When I helped design Arkansas' trauma system 15 years ago, I never imagined I'd one day be a patient whose life depended on it.

In 2009, after returning to Arkansas to lead the trauma program at Arkansas Children's Hospital, I worked with the Legislature, hospitals, the Arkansas Department of Health and emergency medical services to build a coordinated statewide trauma system from the ground up. At the time, Arkansas had one of the nation's highest injury-related death rates. By creating a system that ensured the right patient reached the right hospital at the right time, our state cut preventable trauma deaths by 50 percent within the first seven years of the program and they continue to decrease today.

I didn't expect that very system would later save my life.

One September night in 2017, after a long day in the operating room, I climbed on my motorcycle and headed home from Arkansas Children's Hospital. A car struck me just blocks away. I remember the sound of impact, the weight of the pavement, and the realization that I was now on the opposite end of the system I had helped to build.

Within minutes, paramedics that I had helped train were at........

© Arkansas Online