New Orleans physician discusses Hurricane Katrina disaster at 2005 Trauma Symposium

A New Orleans physician will discuss his recent experience with Hurricane Katrina during the second annual Eastern Regional Trauma Symposium Friday, Oct. 7 at the Greenville Hilton.

About 175 people have already registered for the symposium and on site registration is limited. If you are interested, call 744-5211 or visit the Web site at www.eahec.ecu.edu. The theme of the daylong conference is “Current Trends in Trauma Care.” Program director is Dr. Scott Sagraves, assistant professor of surgery at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University and medical director of trauma services at Pitt County Memorial Hospital.

In keeping with the theme of the conference, Dr. Norman McSwain Jr., professor of surgery at Tulane University in New Orleans, will speak at 10 a.m. National and regional expert faculty will also make presentations on pediatric airway, chest trauma, medication safety and monitoring.

Guest faculty include Nichole Allen, a staff pharmacist at Pitt County Memorial Hospital; Dr. J. Wayne Meredith, professor and chair of surgical sciences and general surgery at Wake Forest University School of Medicine; and Dr. Thomas M. Scalea, physician-in-chief, R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore. ECU faculty include Dr. Ronald Perkin, professor and chairman of pediatrics; Dr. Michael Rotondo, professor and chair of surgery and chief of trauma and surgical critical care; and Dr. Eric Toschlog, assistant professor of surgery and director of surgical critical care.

The event is jointly sponsored by the Trauma Center at PCMH, the Office of Continuing Medical Education at Brody School of Medicine at ECU, the School of Pharmacy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Eastern Area Health Education Center.

Trauma injuries include motor-vehicle crash injuries, pedestrian and bicycle injuries, falls, burns, stabbings, gunshot wounds and child-abuse injuries. The PCMH emergency department serves more than 50,000 patients annually; more than a third of these patients are treated for trauma. Nearly 2,500 of these injured patients require hospitalization.