Shock Trauma Gala

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 5, 2003
Media Contacts Only: Cindy Rivers crivers@umm.edu 410-328-8778
Ellen Beth Levitt eblevitt@umm.edu 410-328-8919

MAY 10TH WILL BE "A NIGHT FOR HEROES" AT THE SHOCK TRAUMA GALA

Event Will Honor State's Emergency Care Providers and Two Shock Trauma Patients

About 1,600 people will celebrate the lifesaving work of the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center and Maryland's Emergency Medical System at the Baltimore Convention Center on Saturday, May 10, when they gather at this year's Shock Trauma Gala, "A Night for Heroes." The event will honor an elaborate network of highly skilled caregivers across the state who work around the clock, every day of the year, to save the lives of injured citizens.

A special feature of the gala will be a Hero Award Ceremony to highlight the dramatic rescues last year of two critically injured young men. One is a Baltimore City police officer shot in the shoulder during a drug arrest last July. The other is a teenager who was hurt on his way to school when his Honda Accord crashed with a pick-up truck on Route 235 in St. Mary's County in April of last year. Both were flown to the Shock Trauma Center and in spite of their severe injuries, both had remarkable recoveries.

Officer Chris Houser, 30, needed numerous surgeries and blood transfusions at Shock Trauma to save his life. He and his wife recently moved to Pennsylvania.

Seventeen-year-old Todd Farr spent 21 days in critical care at Shock Trauma and received rehabilitation therapy at Kernan Hospital before he was able to return home. Today, he is doing well. He has been working to catch up on his schoolwork and will graduate from high school this year. His family was so thankful for Todd's recovery that four months after the crash, members of his family went to the State Police Aviation Division hangar at St. Mary's Airport to personally thank the Medivac pilot and paramedic who saved Todd's life.

"The Shock Trauma Gala is our opportunity to applaud the heroic efforts of the many dedicated men and women who saved the lives of these two patients. And it also gives us a chance to salute Shock Trauma's highly skilled doctors, nurses and other staff who work in partnership with more than 35,000 emergency medical service providers throughout the state all year long," says John Spearman, vice president of the Shock Trauma Center.

During the Hero Award Ceremony, both Officer Houser and Todd Farr will stand on stage with Thomas Scalea, M.D., physician in chief of the Shock Trauma Center. Dr. Scalea will present an award to each of the people who played a vital role in saving the lives of those two patients. They include the 911 operators who dispatched the first responders to the scene, EMS, fire and rescue providers, flight paramedics, doctors, nurses and rehabilitation specialists. By the end of the ceremony, about 100 people will be standing on the stage.

Officer Chris Houser and Todd Farr are only two of the approximately 7,300 people who will be cared for at the Shock Trauma Center this year. About 40 percent of them will be injured in motor vehicle crashes. Thirty-two percent will be hurt in falls and other recreational or industrial incidents and 20 percent of the patients will be injured by violence.

The Shock Trauma Center is able to save the lives of more than 97 percent of its patients, in spite of their severe injuries.

"The Shock Trauma Center was created more than 30 years ago by Dr. R Adams Cowley, a pioneering trauma surgeon who invented the concept of the "golden hour," says John W. Ashworth, CEO of the University of Maryland Medical Center. "Dr. Cowley recognized that the lives of severely injured trauma patients could be saved if they could get to a specialized facility within an hour. He spent his career working to develop the nation's best coordinated, statewide emergency medical system with the Shock Trauma Center as the centerpiece, and we continue to celebrate that achievement each year at the Shock Trauma Gala," says Ashworth, who helped Dr. Cowley turn his vision into a reality.

"Maryland residents are very fortunate to have such an extraordinary, dedicated and coordinated team of emergency medical professionals working to save lives every day," says Greg Devou, executive vice president of CareFirst who is in his tenth year as chairman of the Shock Trauma Gala.

Funds raised at the gala will benefit patient care services at the Shock Trauma Center and also support the state EMS educational fund and the Maryland State Fireman's Association Scholarship Fund.

The gala will be held from 6:30 p.m. to midnight on May 10 at the Baltimore Convention Center on Pratt Street. Tickets cost $250 per person and include cocktails, a seated dinner, dancing, live music and the presentation of this year's Hero Awards. Those interested in purchasing tickets to the gala may call 410-328-5770.

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This page was last updated on: April 9, 2009.