When the weather heats up, Dr. Fred Brenneman and other trauma and emergency room doctors across the city know it’s go time. Their busy season starts this month and lasts until autumn. We check in with the good doctor to ask about all things trauma.
Why did you choose the trauma field?
I like it when you can see the results in a relatively quick manner. In trauma surgery, you sometimes have to make good decisions quickly, and I do like that part of my job.
Do you remember your first trauma patient?
As a medical student at Sunnybrook Hospital. Someone was involved in a motor vehicle collision and arrived at our hospital in hemorrhagic shock — he was bleeding to death.… I remember that we operated on him and took out his bleeding spleen, and he was extremely well.
Is there a time during the week or year that is consistently the busiest?
Yes, we know that Friday night and Saturday night are our busiest trauma days of the week. And, there is also a very seasonal variation in the volume of trauma patients that we see at Sunnybrook. It is very weather dependent. Some people think winter, because of car accidents, but that’s not the case. Trauma season is from May to November.
Have you noticed an increase in stab and gunshot wounds?
Over the past 15 years or so, for penetrating trauma cases (stab wounds, gunshot wounds), the volume of cases has gone up quite significantly. It has been around seven or eight per cent, but now it is 20 to 25 per cent of all our trauma patients. Stab wounds are always more common, but gunshot wounds always seem to get more media attention.
What is the flat-out stupidest thing you’ve seen?
We had one guy, actually two guys, who were using a bow and arrow for target practice. One guy went down to retrieve the arrows, and the other guy took another shot and hit the guy right through his eyeball. It was from like 100 or 150 metres or whatever.
What is the most common injury you see?
The most common injuries are still motor vehicle collisions in the GTA, but there has been an increase this year in pedestrian injuries.… It is still not up to motor vehicle level, but something we’ve paid attention to.
If you could outlaw three activities, in terms of the frequency of preventable injuries, what would they be?
Number one: driving distraction. Define that however you want. Obviously the latest is the cellphone, but there are many other reasons. Two: I think that pedestrians have a significant responsibility for their own safety.… Practise defensive walking. And three: the whole issue of gun and knife control.
Is there a way to navigate the emergency room system to get service faster?
Yes, only go there if you need to go.
What is something everyone should know about dealing with trauma, such as a car accident, when it happens?
One of the most important things, believe it or not, is to be aware of your surroundings. I can’t tell you the number of times people who are involved in or help at a minor collision, get out of their cars and are assessing damage to themselves or the vehicle when they get critically injured by a second impact. They get creamed.
You must have a steady hand. How do you calm your nerves?
Obviously not every situation is life or death, but in the real critical times, I need to realize, and I do realize, if you panic, that does not help anything. So, I think it is a combination of realizing that and the experience of having seen, you know, almost everything that you would think you’d never see, but there it is. All those things help.
And stay away from coffee on surgery days?
Actually, I have one coffee in the morning and one in the afternoon. But you’re right, shaking during surgery is not cool.
Finally, and most important, if you were a M.A.S.H. character, would you be Hawkeye, Honeycutt or B.J.?
B.J., because of the moustache.