On the Streets #5: Trauma during COVID-19

Jordan sits down to discuss trauma with Dr. Kaysie Banton, the Trauma Services Medical Director at Level 1 Trauma Center Swedish Medical Center in Englewood, Colorado. In this laid back interview, Dr. Banton discusses how the COVID-19 has affected trauma volumes at Swedish. While trauma as an aggregate hasn't decreased, the types of trauma for the time of year have shifted as well as the acuity of injuries that present. This episode focuses on how public opinion surrounding the pandemic has shifted the way patients seek care, how delays to seeking care changes her role as a trauma surgeon and what is being done at hospitals to emphasize the safety of patients amidst COVID. Jordan and Dr. Banton talk about how EMS can shift their interview and examinations with this type of behavior in mind. As people delay their care for fear of contracting COVID-19, traumatic injuries that might only require a day or two in the hospital are worsening while untreated and progress to stages that are unnecessary. Dr. Banton leaves medical practitioners with a call to action to educate the public about the benefits of seeking medical care as one normally would outside the pandemic to avoid the worsening of an injury.