The Spearfish Regional Hospital achieved the status of a level-three trauma center. The status is given by the American College of Surgeons. Level-three means that the facility provides extensive trauma care twenty-four hours a day, seven days per week.
Terry Altstiel is a Trauma Medical Doctor in Spearfish. He says when trauma patients arrive, his team springs in to action.
“What you would see if you came in to the Emergency Department during the treatment of a trauma victim, if you were able to observe that, you would probably say that it was chaotic. But in reality what is occurring at that time is really kind of a beautiful ballet, a coordinated specific care that is designed by best practice techniques and principals to make that person make it through the very difficult trauma situation,” says Altstiel.
Altstiel adds that every trauma is evaluated and reported to a national data bank and is also reviewed by peers. Officials say hospital staff must work to remain certified because re-evaluations take place every three years. Rapid City and Sioux Falls Hospitals are both level-two trauma centers.