The Closure of Fountain Valley Trauma Center

I commend you for your reporting on the status of Orange County’s trauma care units and the imminent closure of the Fountain Valley Trauma Center.

Your editorial (Sept. 3) should serve as a call to action. Traumatic events don’t simply afflict the poor; these events also afflict the middle-class and well-to-do. The first hour after a serious trauma--the “Golden Hour”--is the critical time for medical treatment. It can literally be the difference between life and death. Dr. John West, years ago, demonstrated conclusively that trauma centers have saved many lives that otherwise would have been lost.

Now, unbelievably, the Fountain Valley Trauma Center faces closure because of inadequate funding. Haven’t we yet learned the fundamental lesson of a civilized society? Lifesaving medical services --care of premature infants, kidney dialysis, organ transplants and trauma centers --cost a great deal of money and almost always require direct or indirect public subsidies.

Orange County is one of the wealthiest counties in the nation. It would be a tragedy and a disgrace for us to allow the destruction of lifesaving trauma care network. The silence of our city, county and state political leaders is truly deafening.

Dr. PHYLLIS F. AGRAN

Irvine

Agran chairs the Accident Prevention and Poison Control Committee of the Orange County chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and is an associate professor of pediatrics at UC Irvine.