In addition to care at our medical facilities, the Division of Trauma, Surgical Critical Care, Burns, and Acute Care Surgery actively works in our communities to reduce and prevent injuries and the need for emergency medical care and to further the knowledge and skills of care providers.
Trauma Outreach
As the only Level I Trauma center in Southern Arizona, we play a leading role in issues related to trauma and critical care. Our trauma outreach programs include:
- Information for community groups interested in learning more about the trauma problem, how to prevent trauma and how the trauma system works
- Outreach to government officials to help them develop public policy to improve trauma care systems
- Outreach to lawmakers so they can create better laws concerning the trauma care system and injury prevention
Injury Prevention
Southern Arizona’s only American College of Surgeons Accredited Level 1 Trauma center, Banner University Medical Center - Tucson, treats more than 6,000 children and adults that have been involved in trauma each year. Trauma can occur at any age. These patients have suffered injuries resulting from bicycle crashes, motor vehicle crashes, serious falls and violent encounters. An important factor in preventing trauma is educating the public on how to prevent serious injuries.
In collaboration with other agencies around southern Arizona, the injury prevention program provides education to schools, community groups, and other healthcare providers.
Some recent programs that BUMC-T has developed and participated in:
- U of A Spring Break Safety Fair
- Camp Scrubs
- Senior Stand Tall Fall Prevention
- Distracted Walking- Pedestrian Safety
- Parks Rx
- Water Safe Babies
- Safe Hiking
- Wake Up Program
- Texting and Driving Awareness
Our injury prevention programs are provided free of charge and donations to help fund the program are always welcomed and greatly appreciated.
For more information, contact:
Peter Plahmer, RN
Trauma Outreach and Injury Prevention Coordinator
Banner – University Medical Center Tucson
Office: 520-694-5178
Peter.Plahmer@bannerhealth.com
Stop the Bleed
Banner University Medical Center and several agencies in southern Arizona have formed a Stop the Bleed Coalition. The agencies provide training to community groups free of charge. Participants learn basic techniques to control bleeding using hands, dressings and tourniquets.
No matter how rapid the arrival of professional emergency responders, bystanders will always be first on the scene. A person who is bleeding can die from blood loss within five minutes, therefore it is important to quickly stop the blood loss. Those nearest to someone with life-threatening injuries are best positioned to provide first care.
Trauma surgeon Dr. Andrew Tang urges the community to take advantage of the classes in a time where mass shootings and terrorist attacks have become commonplace around the world.
Falls Prevention Fair
The University of Arizona Department of Surgery Division of Trauma, Surgical Critical Care, Burns, and Acute Care Surgery is observing Falls Prevention Awareness Week (September 18-22), with its 3rd annual Falls Prevention Fair on September 25th, to help provide information and resources to the Tucson, Arizona, community that will help older adults live healthy, independent, fall-free lifestyles.
Falls Prevention Awareness Week, led by the National Council on Aging (NCOA), is an annual nationwide effort to raise awareness that falls are preventable. Here in Tucson, the percentage of adults 65 and over is above the national average and above peer western metros, so education about falls awareness and prevention is particularly important.
We invite you to join us at our campus this year! The event is completely free, but space is limited so be sure to register today.
Register Here
Southwest Regional Trauma Conference
Trauma affects EVERYONE. It is the leading cause of years of life lost, exceeding cancer and heart disease combined. Medical advancements and public health efforts have made an impact on this challenging problem, but injuries still remain the greatest silent epidemic of modern society. Our goal is to deliver the most current information on trauma and its management to all healthcare professionals working to combat this major health problem. Morning general sessions and after concurrent breakout sessions are offered each day. This conference has been organized under the leadership of the Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery at the Banner-University Medical Center and the University of Arizona College of Medicine.
For more information regarding our conference please visit our website at SWTrauma.com or contact our office directly at (520) 626-5056.
- Program Chairs Andrew Tang, MD, FACS, and Adam Nelson, MD