Each year STRAC Members host a regional emergency healthcare
systems conference that delivers continuing education for physicians, nurses, and
EMS as well as an opportunity to meet with leaders in the medical industry, learn
about emerging products, and work through system processes.
Dr. Ronald
Stewart, Chair of STRAC's Executive Committee closed the 2016 conference with a
thought provoking lecture that forced all who attended to honestly evaluate how
they're contributing to the advancement of their profession. more
On any given day, EMS will declare a Heart Alert which is a standardized term for a patient presenting with signs and symptoms of a heart attack and an EKG indicating a specific type of myocardial infarction commonly referred to as a STEMI. Appropriate treatment of Heart Alert patients includes accurate identification of the infarction and early activation of the heart catheterization team. To support these life saving decisions, STRAC Member organizations electronically transmit the results of an electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG) taken by EMS directly to the hospital where it may be more... interpreted by an emergency medicine physician and interventional cardiologist as well as appended to the patient's electronic medical record. This all happens before paramedics arrive at the ER to mitigate delays in definitive patient care. This as well as other supportive processes in Southwest Texas result in some of the shortest 911 to restoration-of-blood-flow times in the nation.
What happens when you invite roughly 100 hospital
administrators, physicians, nurses, and paramedics from competing organizations to
the same dinner? It's exciting!
Every quarter leading interventional
cardiologists break bread with emergency medicine physicians, chest pain
coordinators, emergency department directors, paramedics, EMS medical directors, EMS
Chiefs, and healthcare administrators from urban and rural hospital systems and EMS
agencies to build one of the strongest cardiac systems of care this side of the
Mississippi. During dinner, more...
The Infectious Disease Response Unit Advisory Committee consists of some of the greatest minds in public health and infectious disease doctors. This advisory committee was formed to help guide preparedness and response activities in the great state of Texas in preparation of and response to incidents with the potential to spread high consequence infectious disease(s). Participants include executive leadership and practitioners from public health agencies, regional advisory councils, infectious disease centers and more...
STRAC Members collaborate on a research project to determine the
effectiveness of spinal immobilization without the use of a spine board. This study
is specifically targeted to determine the amount of spinal movement (or lack there
of) experienced by a simulated trauma patient under C-spine precautions while
immobilized to an EMS stretcher. Each patient was outfitted with highly sensitive
motion sensors calibrated to detect the slightest movements and accurately display
motion through a digital avatar.
more...
What started as a goal to improve ER to EMS relationships as
well as improving the process of transfer of care has resulted in a new practice
that is sweeping the nation. The
EMS "Time Out" increases patient safety and improves communications between
the EMS provider and the nurse who continues patient care at the receiving hospital.
Click on the link below to watch a short video on the EMS Time Out. Feel free to
download and use the patient
report form and poster
in your hospital's emergency department. It's free!
Watch the video for Hospital
Personnel or EMS
Staff now
During this CEO Advisory Board meeting, Chief Executive Officers
brought perinatal leadership from their respective hospital systems to discuss the
uniform designations for levels of maternity care that are complimentary but
distinct from levels of neonatal care and that address maternal health needs,
thereby reducing maternal morbidity and mortality in the united states. While not a
new concept, the institution of designation levels for maternal care is increasing
across the nation and for several reasons.
more...
No matter how rapid the arrival of professional emergency
responders, bystanders will always be first on the scene. A person who is bleeding
can die from blood loss within five minutes, therefore it is important to quickly
stop the blood loss.
STRAC is proud to be a part of this national campaign
to improve our country's resiliency and empower our communities with the tools and
knowledge to save lives in the wake of a traumatic injury or mass casualty incident.
more...
State designated trauma centers in Trauma Service Area - P
participated in the regional Mass Fatality Concept of Operations Planning Workshop
to improve resilience from and response to man-made and natural disasters.
Check
out our hospital preparedness page to gain access to many of the
prepardness resources hospitals in our region find helpful.
STRAC is proud to be part of the WATCH Coalition for Water Safety. Every year STRAC participates in an annual public outreach event called April Pools Day. STRAC and Member organizations such as the Methodist Healthcare System, San Antonio Fire Department, San Antonio Military Medical Center, University Health System, and many more disseminate water safety information, tips, and safety literature to help raise water safety awareness in the community every year on April 1st.
One of the benefits to being a member of STRAC is the ability to
collaborate with and learn from other agencies throughout the emergency healthcare
system to improve system processes, procedures, and protocols. This is one of the
many ways our members improve patient care throughout Southwest Texas. As shown
here, members discuss upcoming legislation that impacts hospitals and EMS providers
during a Main STRAC Membership held in Eagle Pass, Texas.
Contact us today to learn more about membership benefits.
Hospital Decontamination Teams from across the region compete for the title of DECON Rodeo Champion every year but that is not all. Throughout the year hospitals across this vast 26,000 square mile region in Southwest Texas refresh personal protective equipment inventories, maintain various respirator supplies, and test decontamination equipment while improving muscle memory and increasing hospital response capabilities to better support the communities in which they serve. more...
Hospital and EMS members of STRAC are active participants in the Texas Falls Prevention Coalition and host F.A.L.L. courses in the community all year long. Objectives of the Fall Awareness Lengthens Lives (FALL) course developed by STRAC's Regional Injury Prevention Committee include:
The Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council (STRAC) is designated by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) to develop, implement and maintain the regional trauma and emergency healthcare system for the 22 counties in Trauma Service Area - P (TSA-P). TSA-P has a mixture of urban, suburban, rural and frontier areas, from the 7th largest city in the US to the Mexican border, encompassing over 26,000 square miles in southwest Texas. STRAC is one of twenty-two regional advisory councils in Texas that comprise the Texas Trauma / Emergency Healthcare system. more...
We are tasked by the State of Texas Department of State Health Services to develop and maintain the regional trauma system including 2 Level I, 3 Level III, and 23 Level IV designated trauma centers serving Southwest Texas. more...
Preparedness starts with understanding risk and vulnerabilities. STRAC works with member organizations to identify and mitigate potential threats to the delivery of quality patient care. more...
STRAC provides a forum for communication between parties of the emergency healthcare system to enhance networking and coordination of patient care issues as it relates to the transport and treatment of time dependent pathologies. more...