Following the mass shooting incidents in Lewiston on Oct. 25, Central Maine Medical Center (CMMC) has established a fund for trauma response and support services.
The name of the fund is the CMMC Compassionate Care Fund for Trauma Response and Support.
Donations to the fund will go toward:
- Trauma care for patients without the ability to pay
- Trauma care rooms and facilities, including the emergency department, operating rooms and critical care units
- Emotional and behavioral support services to ensure trauma care providers, patients, families and communities receive the necessary ongoing care needed for recovery
- Investments in new technology and equipment used for rapid diagnosis and treatment of trauma patients
- Training and education for pre-hospital and hospital personnel dedicated to caring for trauma victims and their families
- Securing and maintaining adequate supplies and equipment dedicated to responding to mass casualty incidents
Fourteen patients who initially survived the attack were transported to CMMC.
Central Maine Medical Center assembled a team of more than a dozen surgeons with expertise in orthopedics, cardiovascular, thoracic, colorectal, plastic, urologic and general surgery, underscoring a need for this type of coordinated surgical care.
Among them was Richard King, MD, who is the trauma medical director for Central Maine Healthcare.
“Ultimately in any case of trauma, it is critical to make sure the right people with the right training and the right equipment are available at the right time,” Dr. King said. “That was clearly apparent on October 25. This fund will help ensure that our community has the very best trauma care available and the services to support it.”
To donate to the CMMC Compassionate Care Fund for Trauma Response and Support, visit: https://www.cmhc.org/cmmc/ways-to-give/.