Rural Trauma Part II: Life at a Level III Center

In the first rural trauma episode, we examined the landscape from 30,000 feet, the definitions, the data gaps, the transfer challenges, and the system-level solutions. This episode gets on the ground. Host Dr. Caroline Park and co-moderator Dr. Jeremy Levin sit down with Dr. Whitney Selph, a general and acute care surgeon practicing at a Level III trauma center in Longview, Texas, for an unfiltered look at what rural and community trauma surgery actually looks like day to day.

From running a trauma activation alone with an ER team that rarely sees major injuries, to knowing when your blood bank is about to run dry, Dr. Selph brings a perspective that no textbook can replicate. She walks through a real case, a gunshot wound with a through-and-through injury to the pancreatic head and duodenum, and the real-time decision-making that led to a successful damage control and transfer. If you have ever wondered what happens on the other end of that transfer call, this episode will change the way you think about it.