BALTIMORE — “There was a young man who drove his car off the road and flipped over and was trapped between his dashboard and his car,” said Dr. Rishi Kundi, Shock Trauma Surgeon for the University Of Maryland Medical Center.
As part of the Shock Trauma Go Team, Dr. Kundi has been dispatched on dozens of calls to provide care during what they call the “Golden Hour”, the crucial moments right after an injury.
“All of the things that we do to help the patient in the first 10 to 20 minutes of their arrival here, we can do in the field, whether that’s blood transfusions or chest tubes,” said Dr. Kundi.
Dr. Kundi responded to a call Thursday on I-83 where a truck crossed into oncoming traffic.
“The driver was pinned between the tree and the rest of his cab, so extrication was quite a chore,” he said.
First responders spent two and half hours working to get him free. On the scene, the Shock Trauma Go Team was able to do blood transfusions and give anesthesia to the driver who was awake the entire time.
“That gap of time when we’re not able to do as much or anything at all would have really serious consequences on survival in the short term and in the medium term,” said Dr. Kundi.
For patients quickly loosing blood, the team is able to administer 4 full units of whole blood.
“That’s really far ahead the state of the art, whole blood pre hospital is still something that is years off for most care systems,” said Dr. Kundi.
He says those key moments are life saving.
“The better care that we can provide upfront, and the more thorough care we can provide upfront, the patient will benefit as much as 30, 60 days after the injury,” he said.
