It Only Takes A Second

By Cynthia Leslie, M.D.
Most people would probably tell you that a second is very short, but I think time is relative and it depends on what you do. I work in Saint Francis Hospital’s very busy Trauma Center, and I am constantly reminded that seconds are very precious. The trauma team treats thousands of patients who have been harmed in different ways. Some have been injured in car crashes and some have been shot or stabbed. A number of our elderly neighbors require treatment due to falls. Whatever the injuries are, there is always a common denominator. Patients need our help and we have seconds in which to give it.

When patients arrive in the trauma room, the trauma team is ready. We first look for life-threatening injuries that require immediate treatment. If a patient has trouble breathing, her lung could be collapsed. If the patient has internal bleeding, he may present with signs of shock. When the body is oxygen deprived, the brain is extremely vulnerable and brain death can occur in as little as four to six minutes. The trauma team’s job is to immediately assess, resuscitate and treat and we do all of that very quickly because we know that seconds count.

Trauma is the number one killer of our youngest and healthiest neighbors. It is also a merciless scavenger that maims the old and frail. Heart disease and cancer are widely known public health problems, but the grisly toll that trauma takes frequently goes un-noticed. Hundreds of thousands of people have died on U.S. highways. Hundreds of people die every day as the result of senseless violence. Trauma is more than an injury. It is a national epidemic and until we acknowledge the damage it does, we won’t do much about it. People are driving way too fast and people are much too angry. If you think that rage and speed don’t kill you need to think again. Trauma is killing our youngest, our oldest, our best and our brightest. We need to address the problems and we need to do it now.
It only takes a second to crash into a tree, but that second could be avoided by driving a bit more slowly. It only takes a second to hit and kill a child, but that second could be avoided by refusing to drink and drive. It only takes a second to remember to use your seatbelt and it takes another second to tell your children to do the same. If we use our seconds wisely we will save our neighbors’ lives. What better way to use them when it takes so little time