Backspin Volume 3, Issue 8 | Page 30

quinn Duke, Larry Nelson, Rosemarie Robledo, Patrick Greiffenstein and Jeremy Timmer; Physician Assistant Jennifer Esquinance; and Nurse Practitioners Aaron Bateman, Jodee Bernier and Ellen Wilson. North Oaks Certified Programs Director Katie Sheets and Trauma Manager Tyler Brignac provide leadership for the trauma center and are assisted by trauma registrars and a program assistant. A Shock Trauma Clinic offers follow-up care to patients after they are discharged from the hospital to help them regain as much “pre-trauma” quality of life as possible. A year ago, 51-year-old Willie Nichols of Hammond was brought to the trauma 30 center after a gunshot wounded him in the abdomen, kidneys and stomach. He spent 59 days at North Oaks receiving treatment. “I felt like it was over for me but I was encouraged by the doctors and nurses here,” Nichols recalls. “With the doctors’ help, I’m back doing the things I enjoyed doing.” He was so appreciative of the trauma team’s efforts that he presented them each with plaques that read, “In recognition of doing an outstanding job and saving my life.” In another act of gratitude, he had pizzas delivered to all the nurses who helped care for him. “They really deserved more than that,” Nichols adds. “I believe God worked through them in saving my life. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be sitting here today.” North Oaks is already seeing a 50 percent decrease in trauma patients who are transferred out of the region to receive care. In 2014, the North Oaks Shock Trauma team responded to 411 trauma activations and to 793 in 2015. In the first five months of 2016, the activations hit 396. Combined, this is a total of 1,600 lives that have been touched. To learn more about the North Oaks Shock Trauma Center, call the North Oaks Public Relations Department at (985) 2306647 or visit www.northoaks.org/trauma.