Page 12 - Summa Health Vitality Winter 2018

“If it wasn’t for God
and the trauma
team I had
at Summa, I
wouldn’t be here
today.
” – S gt. David White,
Trauma Patient
When every
second counts
Police officers don’t need to be told
they have a dangerous job. Sgt. David
White of the Uniontown Police
Department headed out to a call
on July 9, 2017, and left the scene
in an ambulance fighting for his life.
White had been shot multiple times and his
survival was in doubt when the EMS crew pulled
up to the Emergency Department at Summa
Health System – Akron Campus. White had lost 40
percent of his blood volume.
“There were 15-20 people waiting when they
opened the doors to the ambulance. The trauma
team was standing next to the sides of my gurney
as I was coming through the doors already starting
treatment,” White said. “The emergency personnel
that night was fabulous. If it wasn’t for God and
the trauma team I had at Summa, I wouldn’t be
here today.”
12 Vitality Magazine I Winter 2018 I Vol. 2, Issue 1
According to Joshua Nash, D.O., trauma surgeon, it
took mere minutes to get White assessed and into the
operating room for emergency surgery.
“We’re a level one trauma center, so this is what we
do. Take the sickest of the sick and get them through
it. We gave him our best efforts and then Sgt. White
did the rest. He came in as serious as you can get, our
highest degree of shock. He’s a fighter.”
During his first week in the intensive care unit, White
had four surgeries to help save his life.
“I had a team of physicians and trauma surgeons as
well as all the trauma nurses. The care they showed
me was remarkable,” White said. “They treated me as
if I was royalty, always asking how I was feeling and if I
was in any pain.”
The 25-year police veteran spent three weeks in the
hospital recovering and walked out under his own
power when he was released. He is expected to
make a full recovery, though his physical therapy and
rehabilitation continues today.
“You don’t have to go to Cleveland Clinic for this kind
of care, you can get it right here in Akron,” said White.
“This team, these people are
the best in the world.”