VALDOSTA — In the event of a trauma injury, Valdostans have a much better chance at survival than much of the state of Georgia.

South Georgia Medical Center is a Level II trauma center, and can treat most victims of car or other accidents within the “golden hour” following such an injury before complications or shock set in. However, large areas of Georgia are outside that critical hour and the issue is getting worse as Level I centers have been forced to close in recent years due to financial constraints.

James McGahee, chief executive officer at South Georgia Medical Center discussed the issue this week as an initiative led by the Georgia Statewide Trauma Action Team is gearing up for the upcoming legislative session. Titled “It’s about Time,” the coalition is spreading the word about the lack of trauma care, particularly from Level I centers, across the state.

“We’re very fortunate. Trauma care is good in Valdosta and for the 8 to 10 counties around us we serve. We have one of the best Level II centers, certainly in South Georgia and maybe in Georgia,” McGahee said.

The closest Level I center is Thomasville at Archbold Memorial Hospital, and McGahee said patients with the most serious trauma that come through SGMC typically are sent to Shands in Gainesville, Fla. or up to Macon.

“The difference between a Level I and Level II center is coverage. Level I is the highest, and they have to have physicians in certain specialties in their ER (emergency room) 24 hours a day. They are usually teaching hospitals that have residents in training,” he said. “Level II hospitals such as ours have those three critical areas covered most of the time — neurosurgery, general surgery and orthopedics — but we don’t have enough physicians to cover 24/7.”

McGahee credits the emergency services in the community with helping to save many lives. He acknowledged that accidents on Interstate 75 are the most frequent cause of trauma patients at SGMC, but adds there are also industrial and farming accidents, household accidents, and even gunshot wounds that require trauma treatment.

The “golden hour” refers to the first hour following the injury. “Patients have a much better chance of surviving trauma if they are treated within the first hour. After that, their chances drop dramatically,” McGahee said. Shock, uncontrolled bleeding, and organs that begin shutting down are all risk factors that must be addressed immediately.

In Georgia, trauma centers are clustered around the metropolitan centers, particularly in the Atlanta area, with a few scattered in other areas of the state. However, thousands of Georgians live outside the “golden hour” and have a much greater chance of dying from serious trauma injuries than those who have access in a more timely manner.

In order to spread the coverage into other areas, McGahee said hospitals need money to pay for the 24/7 coverage and to recruit physicians in the critical specialties. “There is a shortage of physicians, and particularly these types of physicians, and we are all competing for the same ones when they come out of medical school.”

Sen. Tim Golden said he is in favor of funding trauma care in the state, and indicated it will certainly be a hot topic in the upcoming legislative session. “Trauma is the number one killer of Americans between the ages of 1 to 44. Georgia’s rate is 20 percent higher than the national average. The current system centers are dispersed among 10 counties and large areas of our state are not adequately served like ours.”

The hold up on legislation in the 2008 session hinged largely on disagreements over an adequate funding mechanism for the initiative, and Golden indicated he is open to a number of potential sources of fees, such as an increase on car tag fees. “The important thing is to find a reliable, continuing source of funds. Trauma care is expensive. We put $58.9 million in the budget this year, but again, we need a reliable and consistent stream of revenue to fund it annually.”

In the future, with the cooperation between SGMC and Valdosta State University in building the Health Sciences building, the hospital will initially be helping to train nurses, nurse practitioners and physician assistants. After about five years, McGahee said he is hopeful they will be able to work with the Medical College of Georgia to also train residents in family practice and general surgery, and eventually work up to the subspecialties.

According to McGahee, the Board of Regents is including the funds for construction of the $50 million facility in its next fiscal year bond issue, and the groundbreaking should be held around the end of 2009.

“This was Dr. Zaccari’s vision and he was able to foresee what we would need in this community in 15 to 20 years. I’ve established a good relationship with (new VSU President) Dr. Schloss and he is fully behind this initiative and sees its benefits.”

If SGMC is able to become a teaching hospital, the hospital will be able to upgrade to a Level I trauma center as the required 24/7 coverage will be in place.

Until then, however, McGahee said the public should be reassured that SGMC can handle the emergencies and trauma cases that come its way.

“We are fortunate to have most all specialties available and we have one of the best EMS services — we’ve won national awards — to treat patients well within the “golden hour,” he said.