You hear it all the time.  "If I can save just one life by doing something, it's worth the effort," people say when they get involved in some cause - a charity walk, wearing a ribbon of a particular color, recording a Public Service Announcement.  The thing is, you rarely know the one person whose life you saved.  But now you do.

On July 4th this year, our family learned just how fortunate we are to live so close to one of the top trauma centers in the country, Grady Memorial Hospital.  I was carrying a glass dish back to my next-door neighbors after our annual barbecue.  I tripped on their driveway and fell.  The dish shattered and I ended up with deep cuts over my face and chest, and most seriously, a severed anterior jugular vein.

Our next-door neighbors, Dana (an OBGYN) and Keith (a surgeon) were both home and were at my side in seconds.  Keith had his hand in my neck, making sure I didn't bleed out on his driveway.  Dana helped me remain calm and reassured my 3 children (and her 2) that I would be fine.  When the ambulance arrived, the DeKalb County Fire crew asked if they should take me to the closest hospital.  "Not a chance," Keith said, "she's going to Grady."  The ambulance weaved through Braves Game traffic for most of the 8-mile ride, while I lay in the back asking Keith if I was going to die.  His well-trained response told me I would be fine, but his eyes told me he wasn't so sure.

Grady was ready for me, and within 20 minutes of my arrival, I was in surgery to stop the bleeding.  Dr Jeffrey Salomone was the attending surgeon on duty, and he led an amazing team of doctors and nurses.  Just another day at the office for them.  To them, I was no different than the average car accident, gunshot, or stabbing victim they see many times a day at Grady.  But mine was, for the next few hours anyway, the One Life they were going to save.

There are 15 Trauma Centers in Georgia, 4 of which are Level One centers. I'm alive because my freak accident occurred within "the golden hour" of one of these centers (and because I picked great neighbors).  It's pretty simple:  the math says if you suffer a trauma and it's possible for you to survive, there's a good chance you will live, as long as you're within an hour of a Trauma Center (30 minutes for a child).  If not, there's a good chance you'll die.  Many Georgians, and many visitors to our state, including those just driving through to Florida on I-75, are not with one hour of a Trauma Center.

Like many of you, I hardly give any thought to all the initiatives that appear on the ballot during the General Elections.  But I'm asking you to give a lot of thought, and an affirmative vote to Ballot Amendment 2 this year.  It would amend Georgia’s constitution and establish a dedicated funding source for the state’s trauma care system.  We need twice the number of centers we have now in Georgia, where deaths from trauma injuries are 20 percent higher than the national average. For an annual car registration fee of just $10, we can generate $80 million a year to save lives.

Or maybe to save Just One Life.

Gratefully Yours,

Marcie

For more information, please go to http://www.yes2savelives.com/ or  http://www.georgiaitsabouttime.com/