Volume 20, Issue No. 50

do.” Heath and his girlfriend Molly Matt-son moved to Hawai‘i almost six years ago. “We had a five-year plan,” Molly laughed. “I’ve been hearing about a lot of people who had that same plan and they’re still here in Hawai‘i 30 years lat-er.” Heath worked in biomed back home in Texas and wanted to stay in the medi-cal field here. He was initially hired to work in Central Transport Services (CTS), then took a call-in position with CPD, which quickly became a regular full-time position. Heath is now an integral part of the department’s evening shift.

A Weekly Publication for the People of Queen’s | Volume 20 | Number 50 | December 5, 2011

“Whoo hoo!” shouted Heath Sifuentes, SP Instrument Tech, Sterile Process-ing, upon hearing that he was chosen as the QMC November Employee of the Month. He threw his arms in the air and did a little happy dance, too. It was the most exuberant display of recogni-tion seen at any EOM award party of re-cent recollection. But that enthusiasm is really the key to Heath’s charming nature and winning personality.

Sterile Processing manager Debbie Kuhia explained, “Heath leads with such tenaciousness, tempered with humor and forbearance. He handles daily chal-lenges with patience and tactfulness, al-ways encouraging others to do the same. He continues to share innovative ideas towards improvement of work processes. Heath is a definite asset to the depart-ment and to Queen’s. He exemplifies an employee that truly reflects an attitude of compassion for his work, aloha for his peers, respect for the thoughts and opin-ions of others, and the pursuance of ex-cellence towards a job well done.”

“If you had asked me years ago, I wouldn’t have guessed that this is where I’d be,” Heath admitted candidly. “But I feel like this is exactly what I’m meant to

Heath Sifuentes a Winning Personality for Queen’s

(Continued on page 3.)

2

Submitted by Ceasar Ursic, MD

On September 20, a team of four QMC trauma surgeons and one QMC physician assistant traveled to the U.S. territory of American Samoa to teach the Rural Trau-ma Team Development Course (RTTDC) to doctors, nurses, and allied health staff at the Lyndon B. Johnson Tropical Medi-cal Center (LBJ-TMC), the only hospital serving this three-island archipelago in the western Pacific. American Samoa lies just south of the equator, approximately 2,600 miles southwest of Hawai‘i, and 4,800 miles from the West Coast of the U.S. mainland. Administered by the U.S. government, the LBJ-TMC is a 130-bed facility which serves as the territory’s only hospital and provides acute medical, sur-gical, maternity, and pediatric services for American Samoa’s 63,000 inhabitants.

The RTTDC is a one-day didactic and interactive course that has been created by the Rural Trauma committee of the American College of Surgeons Commit-tee on Trauma to assist rural hospitals in developing their trauma teams; increas-ing the efficiency of resource utilization; and improving the level of care provided to the injured patient in the rural envi-ronment. QMC Trauma Medical Direc-tor Caesar Ursic, MD, who organized the course and served as course director, was first made aware of the need for such a program by QMC Trauma and Acute Care Surgeon Sharon Moran, MD. Dr. Moran had previously spent a one-month term earlier this year providing emergency and elective general surgery at LBJ-TMC, and felt that there was an acute need for a course such as the RTTDC to augment the trauma care capabilities of this very geographically isolated U.S. territory.

In addition to Drs. Ursic and Moran, the QMC contingent to American Sa-moa was composed of QMC Trauma/Acute Care surgeons Patrick Pedro, MD, and Fred Yost, MD, and by QMC Trau-ma Service Physician Assistant Larry Alfrey, who served as the course coor-dinator. The five-member team taught three eight-hour courses over three days to a total of 78 students, includ-ing LBJ-TMC surgeons, ER physicians, nurses, EMS personnel, hospital admin-

Queen’s Team Teaches Trauma Course in Samoa

(Continued on page 3.)

istrators, and other ancillary staff.Unlike most every other small or rural

hospital on the U.S. mainland or even here in the State of Hawai‘i, the great geographic isolation of American Samoa precludes the transfer of acutely injured patients who are in need of a higher level of care to a trauma center that is able to provide definitive care of their severe injuries. The nearest designated trauma centers are in Honolulu, and in Auckland, New Zealand, both more than a five hour commercial jet flight away. There is no available emergency aero-medical trans-port that serves American Samoa, and military air evacuations of civilian pa-tients are rarely provided. Occasionally, a stable patient can be flown via commer-cial airline, but the carrier requires a 10-day “cooling off” period after the injury before it will allow the patient to fly to Honolulu or elsewhere. Thus, the medi-cal staff at LBJ-TMC have no option but to provide definitive trauma care to each and every injured patient that arrives in their emergency room despite the limited resources of their frequently overbur-dened and understaffed hospital.

“In many ways, we (the QMC team) learned just as much from the doctors and nurses at LBJ as they learned from the course we taught them,” explained Dr. Ursic. “It was an eye-opening and so-bering experience for me and the Queen’s team to see how well LBJ doctors and nurses were caring for some very sick, very severely injured patients, knowing

that transfers out were not possible and that they had to fix everything—or else.” Dr. Ursic noted that the staff at LBJ-TMC work long and hard hours and have be-come adept at improvisation and effi-ciency, because they are plagued with a chronic shortage of not only supplies but personnel, including many of the surgical specialists that established U.S. trauma centers take for granted. The American Samoan EMS system relies on funds from various federal grants and has no official operational budget, so they recycle nearly everything, including cervical collars and splints. “I have asked our Queen’s ER staff to keep their eyes open for clean, used C-spine collars,” said Dr. Ursic. “We are col-lecting as many as we can get once they are no longer needed by our own patients, and rather than just throwing them away, I plan to box them up and ship them to LBJ in the near future, where they will be distributed to the ambulances and used many times over.”

The experience was such a positive one that Dr. Ursic is currently planning to return to American Samoa in 2012, but this time to offer the American College of Surgeon’s more comprehensive Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) course to the medical staff of the LBJ-TMC. “I am convinced that the ATLS course is the obvious segue from the one we just

The Queen’s RTTDC team (L to R): Larry Alfrey, PA-S, Sharon Moran, MD, Fred Yost, MD, Caesar Ursic, MD, Patrick Pedro, MD.

Queen’s trauma surgeon Dr. Sharon Moran (far right) facilitates a small group discussion session during the RTTDC course at Amer-ican Samoa’s LBJ Tropical Medical Center.

3

EOM Heath Sifuentes(Continued from page 1.)

Heath explained that he has “kind of a lead position assisting the evening shift with the SensaTrack instrument track-ing system. I’ve had some great mentors, such as recently retired Acasio Pagaduan, Jodette Josue from Same Day Surgery, and Richard Gordon, who is my walking encyclopedia. We all feed off of each oth-er. Everybody has a contribution.”

Gerald Carreira, manager of Periop Inventory & Sterile Processing, further clarified the issue saying, “Heath has taken the initiative to update his knowl-edge and skills concerning his duties as an SP Instrument Technician. His leader-ship skills and caring attitude encourage many of his colleagues to look at their job responsibilities differently. Many employees were afraid to use the new instrument tracking system computers.

Heath took the time to collaborate with our management team and develop his skills. Then he assisted with the building of files, investing his own time to assist and educate other employees who were experiencing difficulty. Through his en-thusiasm and caring attitude, he has re-duced cost for the replacement of instru-mentation at Queen’s. His courage and dedication is the future of QMC.”

“Leaving before the job is done is just not an option,” Heath said sincerely. “But I’m lovin’ it all; everybody I work with is just great.”

When not working hard at Queen’s, Heath can usually be found skateboard-ing, hiking, or hanging at the beach while Molly surfs. Then they head home to barbecue and “squeeze our cat!” Even as the EOM party was in progress, home chores were piling up—Heath and Mol-ly were in the final stages of moving in-to a new apartment. “He was complain-ing this morning about what a lousy Monday this was going to be,” Molly commented. “I knew this was coming so I just laughed. He’s happy now.”

taught,” he explained. “Their doctors will really benefit from this intense two day course, which teaches not only the theory of advanced care of the injured, but also provides hands-on learning and practice with simulators—it’s the state-of-the-art worldwide, and there’s no reason that American Samoa shouldn’t benefit from it, as have so many other hospitals in the US and many other foreign countries.”

Although the ATLS course is an ex-pensive one to organize and deliver (stu-dents on the U.S. mainland are generally

charged up to $1,500 tuition for the two day class) Dr. Ursic plans to apply for sev-eral private and industry educational and service grants that would make the tu-ition negligible if not altogether free to the students in American Samoa. “I’ve told

the QMC trauma surgeons that if they want to fly down to Pago Pago with me next year and teach this course, they’re go-ing to have to waive the usual stipend that we receive when we teach the ATLS course here in Hawai‘i,” he said. “They have all been more than happy to do this, to do-nate their time and expertise—and that’s trauma teamwork in action.”

Trauma in Samoa(Continued from page 2.)

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Day ShiftFriday, Dec 16

11:00am–1:30pmQCC Plaza

Evening ShiftFriday, Dec 16

5:00pm–6:30pm QET2 Corridor

Night ShiftThursday, Dec 15

10:45pm–12:15amQET2 Corridor

StarryCelebrationA

The Environmental Services (House-keeping) management team has two new members. Wendell Lawson is the new EVS/CTS Director and will oversee both Environmental Services and Cen-tral Transport Services. Wendell can be reached at 691-7599. Andrew Giles is now the Evening EVS Operations Man-ager and can be reached at 691-3495. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Taking Charge of Money Matters is the subject of this month’s I Can Cope free class for those facing cancer. Guest speaker Kamahanahokulani Farrar will

discuss cancer in the workplace and the American Disability Act, while Pamela Martin covers the Hawai‘i Family Medi-cal Leave Act. Facilitators are Karen Ng, RN, and LorrieAnn Santos. The class will be held on Saturday, December 10, from 9:30 to 11:30 am in the Kamehameha Auditorium and Lounge. Register with the Queen’s Referral Line at 691-7117.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Blue wraps from the main OR are available for all your household uses, like holiday packing, painting, and etc. Sterile equipment comes wrapped in them and they are clean and safe for reuse. Stop by the main OR front desk to pick some up.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Reminder: submit your Coordina-tion of Benefits (COB) information online by December 17 to be entered to win an iPad2. Log on to www.mdx-hawaii.com, or call customer service at 522-7560 for assistance. This is an an-nual requirement for all employees.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .The No Charge Patient Parking Valida-tion Process was revised to eliminate the valometer validation requirement. The outpatient department self-inking stamp is now the only validation required for no charge patient parking. For more infor-mation, call the Materials & Procure-ment Administration at 691-4527. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Hawai‘i Sjogren’s Support Group

Sell:Printer: WiFi color laser CLP-325W, new. $135. Netbook: Samsung 10.1” N310. $250. Flash drives: 8gb USB. $13. Call 271-2162.

Waikiki Banyan condo: 1/1/1, 17th floor facing Diamond Hd, wood laminate flrs+tile. Pool, sauna, tenn ct, BBQ , putting green, low maint fee incl elec, cable, sewer, water. Pet friendly bldg. Fee simple. Lisa Haeringer at 808-927-7177.

Rent: Kalihi Valley: Lg 2/1/1, w/d, BBQ patio, 5x5x7 storage, guard dog, sec camera, 10 min to QMC. $1,400 incl utils/cable. Call/txt 221-2381.

Hawaii Kai: 2/2/2 fronting marina, Colony at the Peninsula, central a/c, w/d, great lay-out, high ceilings, granite counters, ceiling fans, guest pkg, 2 pools, 2 spas, 24-hour gym, party rm, promenade. $2,950+GET, incl internet, cable, all utils except elec & ph. Call 808-927-7177.

Marriott Mountainside: 2/2 Villa. Vacation rental. Base of Park City Ski Resort, UT, ski in & ski out, 1200SF, soaking tub, sleeps 8 w/2 king beds & 2 sofa beds, 3 flat screen TVs, full kitch, w/d, fireplace. Fitness ctr, heated pool, 5 hot spas. Avail 3/9 to 3/16/12. $2,000/wk. Call Howard at 395-4792.

Lanikea at Waikiki: 2/2/2 fully furn. Incl all linens, bedding, kitchenware, w/d, 42” flat screen TV/DVD plyr, + 2 TVs in BRs. There is also a queen size inflatable mattress for additional guests. Gated grnds, lg pool & BBQ area. Walk to shopping, restaurants, entertainment, & beach. $3,900 + GET incl internet, TV cable, and all utils except elec & ph. Long term lease pref. 808-927-7177.

Misc:Nini’s Boutique: Now open in Kaimuki, 1154 Koko Head Ave. 25% disc w/QMC ID. M-Sat, 10 am to 6:30 pm. 561-7084.

meets on Thursday, January 19 at 5:30 pm at the Queen’s Conference Cen-ter. Ophthalmologist Gregory Schmidt, MD, will be guest speaker. RSVP to [email protected].. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .The Hawai‘i Community Foundation ad-ministers the Will J. Henderson Scholar-ship for the children of Queen’s employ-ees. Applications for the 2012 award are now being accepted online at www.ha-waiicommunityfoundation.org. Applications must be received by February 17, 2012.

For QHS Employees