Right by Christine Kilgore For Richard Schwartz, MD, running a hospital emergency department and working as a physician in the military's Special Forces aren't as different as they first seem.
Resources differ dramatically, of course.
So do the environment and the level of danger. But beyond that, thought processes are similar. By calling a toll-free number, physicians who need help with critically ill patients can get in touch with the proper MCG specialists immediately, and patients can be transported to MCG by helicopter with appropriate medical personnel on board. The new system, which has been up and running since mid January, replaces a process that Coule and Schwartz say was often cumbersome for patients and physicians in Georgia's trauma region 6. It also makes life easier for the accepting physicians at MCG's level I trauma center.