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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Grateful trauma patient reunites with Royal Columbian Hospital and BCAS Air Ambulance teams to thank them for saving his life
New Westminster, B.C. -- October 16, 2008 – Curtis Zanussi of White Rock, BC, returned to Royal Columbian Hospital (RCH) today to celebrate the one-year anniversary of his survival from a severe construction accident, and thank the RCH and BC Ambulance Service (BCAS) Air Ambulance teams who helped save his life.
The reunion took place on the helipad at RCH, where the BCAS Air Ambulance crew, travelling in a BCAS Air Ambulance helicopter, landed to meet with Curtis and the RCH staff. Curtis autographed for the RCH and BCAS teams a photo that was taken of him the day of his injury, as a testament to his survival.
RCH receives more trauma patients who arrive by BCAS Air Ambulance helicopter than Vancouver General Hospital, Victoria General Hospital and BC Children’s Hospital combined, according to a recent report from BC Ambulance Service. In the four month period between April 1st and August 21st, 2008, alone, RCH treated 50 per cent of the total number of air-lifted helicopter trauma patients in the province. Curtis is typical of those patients.
In October 2007, he was leading the construction of a golf course in Aldergrove, when the walls of a sand-filled trench in which he was working caved in, and buried him in nearly two tonnes of sand.
A co-worker called 9-1-1, and the BCAS Autolaunch protocol was activated. The protocol had both BCAS ground ambulances and one of the BCAS Air Ambulance helicopters dispatched to the scene. Curtis was air-lifted to RCH, where he spent the next two and a half months being treated for multiple injuries, including a collapsed lung and crushed pelvis.
Royal Columbian Hospital provides tertiary trauma care, which means we have 24-7 access to a team of highly specialized multi-disciplinary professionals, from orthopedic surgeons and neurosurgeons to interventional radiologists and newborn intensive care specialists, all who care for the most critically injured patients,” says Dr. Iain MacPhail, who is the Medical Director of Trauma Services for Fraser Health and a Trauma Team Leader at RCH.
“RCH is the major trauma centre for the Fraser Health region, serving more than 1.5 million people from Burnaby to Boston Bar,” says Adrienne Bakker, president and CEO, RCH Foundation. Through close partnership with Fraser Health Authority, the Ministry of Health Services, RCH Foundation helps build on government funding to support RCH in delivering the best in health care to its
patients. We are proud to be working with our donors and the community to raise $1.6 million this year to fund life-saving equipment for areas such as the trauma operating room and Intensive Care Unit."
Curtis is slowly getting his strength back with the help of rehabilitative therapy, and is grateful to the RCH and BCAS teams that he was able to walk his new bride – whom he had proposed to while he was in RCH’s critical care unit – down the aisle this past August.
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About Royal Columbian Hospital (RCH)
RCH is one of 12 hospitals under the umbrella of the Fraser Health Authority, and is the major trauma, heart and newborn intensive care centre for 1.5 million people from Burnaby to Boston Bar. RCH is also a UBC teaching hospital with a newly expanded Clinical Academic Campus and a community hospital serving New Westminster residents.
About Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation
Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation is an independent charitable organization that raises millions of dollars every year to build on government support to fund equipment needs, priority projects, education and research at RCH. For more information about Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation, please visit rchfoundation.com
About BC Ambulance Service Air Ambulance Program
The Air Ambulance Program is an integral part of the BC Ambulance Service and has nine dedicated aircraft under contract - 6 fixed-wing airplanes (one located in Prince George, two in Kelowna and three in Vancouver) and 3 helicopters (one located in Prince Rupert and two in Vancouver). The BCAS Air Ambulance Program has an annual budget of over $42 million and transferred almost 8,700 patients in 2007/08.
For more information, please contact:
Shannon Henderson
Communications Specialist
(604) 520-4438
shannon.henderson@fraserhealth.ca
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