Spring 2018 Edition

In mid-November, staff at Red Duke Trauma Institute and local first responders faced a crisis scenario: a Life Flight helicopter was lost somewhere over Montgomery County with four people aboard. While the crisis was not real, the response that quickly followed was. Teams from various agencies across the region jumped into action, just as they would if the unlikely scenario were ever to occur. In the exercise, known as Operation May Day, the Life Flight Communications Center activated missing aircraft procedures, dispatching another aircraft and ground emergency responders to find the missing chopper.

In October, a collaborative group of Memorial Hermann injury prevention champions joined Red Duke Trauma Institute in a Live Your DREAMS outreach event to educate and engage San Jacinto College students about the dangers of impaired and distracted driving. Also, a group of 60 people attended a “Tone Your Bones” screening event and seminar held at the Trotter Family YMCA in Houston to hear information on bone health and fall prevention from Red Duke Trauma Institute.

Memorial Hermann Health System continues to expand in scope, with Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Medical Center earning Level II trauma verification from the American College of Surgeons in November. The move provides more immediate access to a higher level of trauma care to communities north of Houston while helping to ease the burden on the Red Duke Trauma Institute at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center, Houston’s only Level I trauma center for both adult and pediatric patients.