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Coleen Vesely, R.N., B.S.N., C.E.N.
Trauma Program Coordinator 
Safe Kids Coordinator 
Safe Kids Coalition of Otsego County
Phone: 607-547-4812
Fax: 607-547-3421
coleen.vesely@bassett.org

Bassett Healthcare is proud to provide the Leatherstocking Region with its only New York State Department of Health designated Area Trauma Center since 1987. (The New York State Department of Health uses a process to designate hospitals as either Regional or Area Trauma Centers.) A system of trauma centers was designed to provide access to necessary services for traumatically injured individuals throughout New York State.

Some of the responsibilities of a trauma center are to provide education on caring for trauma victims and injury prevention, and this is done through a variety of both hospital and public offerings.

Hospital Trauma Education
Bassett's staff of dedicated physicians, physician assistants, nurses, EMT's maintain the highest level of certifications in order to be prepared to treat critically injured and ill patients at a moment's notice. Hospital physicians, physician extenders and nurses are offered continuing education that provide both didactic and skill performance sessions. To find out more about these courses please visit the following Web sites:

American College of Surgeons (ACS): http://www.facs.org/index.html. (Advance Trauma Life Support (ATLS) courses are posted on this site.)

Emergency Nurses Association (ENA): http://www.ena.org  (Trauma Nurse Core Course and Emergency Nurses Pediatric Course information can be found at this Web site.)

Trauma conferences are held, with discussions about trauma patients, injuries and interventions, on the second and fourth Thursdays of every month. Trauma conferences are held in conjunction with local EMS agencies and provide ongoing trauma education to both the provider staff and pre-hospital providers. For more information or to be added to an e-mail notification list of conference content, call Coleen at 607-547-4812.

Injury Prevention Initiatives
Injury prevention education is achieved through Safe Kids. The Safe Kids Coalition of Otsego County, affiliated with Safe Kids Worldwide, is a diverse and well-structured group of individuals and organizations that join forces to plan, carry out and evaluate short and long-term strategies to reduce unintentional injuries in Otsego County. The Executive Board consists of AAA Tri County Motor Club, A.O. Fox Hospital, Bassett Healthcare (lead agency), Cornell University Cooperative Extension of Otsego County, LEAF Council on Alcoholism/Addictions, Otsego County STOP-DWI and Traffic Safety. Safe Kids offers the following educational programs and services to individuals and groups throughout the county:

• Bicycle safety and helmet distribution
• Fire and burn prevention and smoke alarm and carbon monoxide detector distribution
• Choking/poison prevention
• Falls prevention
• Motor vehicle occupant safety
• Pedestrian safety
• Water safety

For more information on Safe Kids visit: http://www.safekids.org or call 607-547-4812 to speak to the county coalition coordinator, Coleen Vesely.