Pocono News Section

New Trauma Center Put to Good Use

New Trauma Center Put to Good Use - Wednesday, October 1, 2008 at 5:10PM EST

Reported by: Mike Trim
Wednesday, Oct 1, 2008 @ 05:10pm EST

HANOVER TOWNSHIP, LUZERNE COUNTY- A forklift rollover seriously injures a man in Hanover Township. It happened on Penobscot Mountain.

Police say a forklift was used to push a flatbed tractor trailer stuck in mud. It happened at about 10:30 a. m. Wednesday. The forklift tipped over and fell on a Tower King II Incorporated employee.

Police say no charges will be filed, it appears to be an accident. The employee's name and condition isn't being released at this time.

That employee was taken by helicopter to a new trauma center. Geisinger Wyoming Valley in Plains Township just began receiving patients by life flight Wednesday. The Trauma Medical Director says it's definitely needed. Dr. Brian Klock says, "The volume of injured patients in the area are very high, primarily due to auto accidents and falls in the area."

Inside the new critical care building are new trauma bays and a new cat scan room. These are important things to have in close range of each other, making it easier to care for patients quickly. The building is a Level Two trauma center. The difference between a Level One is the amount of patients.

Geisinger Wyoming Valley Trauma Coordinator Terry Heller says, "We've actually been doing trauma since the end of last year, accepting patients by ground only, up until today. We now are able to accept the patients via the air ambulance as well, life flight."

On Wednesday, the new critical care building helped. Doctors stabilized this patient, and transferred him to a specialist in Danville. Geisinger's new critical care building is the only Level Two trauma center in Luzerne County.