I need to give credit to some folks:

Elzie Malone, owner of Pleasant Bay Ambulance Service and now Franklin County Coroner mentioned the idea to me about two years ago. It made sense to me and I really liked the idea.

When I did the paper for a paramedic class my instructor, Chris Colvin, gave me a 100 on it and told me it was the best he had ever read. He encouraged me to submit it to the state as a certificate of need or get it published. He gave me the 'big head' and I submitted it.

I know Chris graded my paper on content and not grammar, etc., because I would not have received that good of a grade. Before submitting my paper to the state I revised it a little, adding more information. Susan DeArman, a friend and English teacher at Russellville High School, edited my revised paper for grammar and helped me to get it "up to snuff" before I submitted it to the State. Thank you, Susan.

Below are links so that you can read the paper. Basically, a Level I Trauma Center is the ultimate medical treatment facility that provides the highest available level of care to trauma patients. In Franklin County, we often have to send patients by helicopter or other means to Huntsville (Level II) or Birmingham (Level I) to receive treatment that they can not otherwise receive in Northwest Alabama. It's not that we don't have a good hospital or good doctors, we do. What we don't have is the availability of specialized surgeons and medical professionals that can only be found in higher levels of care. We need that high level of care here.

Here's two scenarios: Let's say two people are driving down the road at the same time. One person is driving on Highway 24 through Belgreen. The other person is driving on Interstate 65 through Birmingham. They both wreck and sustain the exact same injuries, including an injury to the head that ruptures a small blood vessel in the brain. Hearing the initial report, the responding paramedic requests AirEvac or MedFlight. This patient is extricated from the vehicle and treated by the responding EMT's and Paramedics. Ideally, the helicopter is at the landing zone by the time the patient is and packaged and ready for transport. The patient is flown to Huntsville Hospital. By the time the Belgreen patient is in the surgery room, nearly two hours have passed since the injury occured. In Birmingham, the other patient is extricated and taken by ambulance to UAB. Within 30 minutes of the accident, he is ready for surgery. The patient in Birmingham is getting definitive treatment within the "Golden Hour"; the patient in Belgreen is not.

Here's the reality of the two scenarios above. A patient in Belgreen with the same injuries as a patient in Birmingham is much more likely to die or sustain permanent injury as a result of the accident. Why? The first reason is the time is takes to receive definitive care and the second reason is the level of care provided. Is a life in Birmingham more valuable than a life in Belgreen? NO...But the geographical distribution of medical care facilities in Alabama says that it is.

I don't think that is right and that is why I wrote the paper. It might be a "pipe dream", but it should at least be considered.