News | Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University

<BIG>IN THE NEWS: OUR TRAUMA CHIEF AND HIS TEAM WITH JETS AND LIFE-SAVING LESSONS</BIG>

Making a Difference by Saving the Lives of Both Heroes and Ordinary People

STONY BROOK, NY, December 5, 2016 — The past week saw our trauma chief <a href="/surgery/people/faculty/dr-james-a-vosswinkel">Dr. James A. Vosswinkel</a> and his team at <a href="https://trauma.stonybrookmedicine.edu/" target="_blank">Stony Brook Trauma Center</a> receiving major media attention that resulted in two remarkable, far-reaching news stories. We proudly present them here:

<div class="caption"><table width=250><tr><td>Dr. Vosswinkel with Officers Guerrero (l) and Collins (r). </td></tr></table></div>
 
"Doc, Surgery Team Who Saved Cops Score Touchdown with Jets" is the headline of the story published last Tuesday in Newsday, Long Island's regional newspaper.
 
The story details how two Suffolk police officers who survived grave injuries thanks to Dr. Vosswinkel and his team surprised him to express their gratitude in a way that left him "completely overwhelmed."
 
Their gratitude included his being with the <a href="http://www.newyorkjets.com/" target="_blank">NY Jets</a>. A long-time serious Jets fans, Dr. Vosswinkel will co-captain the coin toss when the Jets play their rivals, the Indianapolis Colts, tonight.
 
"This is not about me," Dr. Vosswinkel is quoted as saying. "It is a team here, a team that really cares about the patients — I may be the guy that's most visible, but it's about everybody."
 
Dr. Vosswinkel and our trauma team treated Det. Nicholas Guerrero, who had suffered a severe head injury after he was struck by a hit-and-run driver in 2014, and Emergency Services Section Officer Mark Collins, who was shot in the throat and hip while apprehending a suspect in 2015.
 
The Jets have honored first responders, from police to EMTs and doctors, at games for several years. After the Jets invited the two police officers, they asked if Dr. Vosswinkel might be included.
 
And so he will, along with 20 members of his team, who will run out through the tunnel onto the field tonight.
 
<a href="http://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/doc-surgery-team-who-saved-c…; target="_blank">Read the story</a> on the Newsday website.
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<a href="http://cbsloc.al/2fSHAAx" target="_blank"><img src="/sites/default/files/voss-on-channel-2-news_0.jpg" style="width:250px;height:147px;" alt="an image is here" /></a>
<div class="caption"><table width=250><tr><td>Click on image to watch the CBS news video (1:50 min).</td></tr></table></div>

"Ordinary People Trained to Save Lives in Shootings, Attacks" is the headline of the story published last Wednesday by the Associated Press.
 
The story opens with an unfortunate picture of our times: "It's become a hallmark of terror attacks and school shootings: the fateful minutes or hours when the wounded are hunkered down, waiting for the violence to play out and for help to arrive."
 
Dr. Vosswinkel and his team are featured for spearheading training in life-saving techniques for school districts and colleges across the country.
 
At a training session last Tuesday, they brought in fake body parts with blood spurting from the wounds to show staffers of a Long Island school district how to tie tourniquets and pack open wounds with whatever they have.

"Seconds matter. It really can be minutes when you can lose your life," Dr. Vosswinkel, who led the training, is quoted as saying.
 
Teachers learned to apply tourniquets in case a student is shot in the arms or legs — using T-shirts, belts, or shoe strings, if necessary — and to stick anything they can to pack wounds in the torso.
 
"I don't care if you stick Kleenex in there, pack it up," Dr. Vosswinkel said.
 
"We want the average person, even if they are injured themselves, to be able to perform these potentially life-saving medical skills."
 
<a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/c50c7721275d462f8086cf6f4962f621/ordinar…; target="_blank">Read the story</a> on the AP website.

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*** Learn more about the Stony Brook Trauma Center and find out how to arrange for a visit by our trauma experts to learn life-saving lessons: <a href="https://trauma.stonybrookmedicine.edu/" target="_blank">click here</a> ***