OGDEN — Tina Draney was always told she had a caring nature, so it was no surprise she ended up going into the nursing field.

As she started her career at Ogden Regional Medical Center 25 years ago, Draney said she quickly recognized she had a draw toward the most critical patients.

“I guess I had an adrenaline junkie side to me all while maintaining my compassionate side,” she said.

Draney said she was taken under the wings of some very special intensive care nurses who trained her to recover open heart patients and care for the severely injured.

Draney was recently named the new director of the trauma department at Ogden Regional Medical Center. She said caring for a mother and her daughter four years ago made her realize trauma was where her career path should continue. Her new role includes making sure the hospital provides the best care possible to its patients, and she said she is always looking at ways to improve upon processes for the next patient and to provide the best outcomes.

“At Ogden Regional Medical Center, we see a wide array of injured patients due to multiple types of injury-related accidents,” Draney said. “From motor vehicle crashes, falls from ladders, trees, roofs, tripping, to extreme sport injuries like motocross bike accidents, ski and snowboarding injuries, mountain bike accidents, injured patients from livestock, people getting thrown from or kicked by horses, to the occasional stabbing and gunshot wounds.”

Draney said some very unusual accidents also end up being treated in the trauma department. She remembers one patient who was on their farm riding a horse when the horse bucked them off and they were subsequently trampled by a cow that was protecting its calf.

“This caused a critical abdominal injury with severe internal bleeding,” she said. “Another unusual accident occurred during one of our more recent wind storms. We had a patient who was cleaning debris in their yard from the storm and a very large tree fell over and hit them in the head and chest causing severe chest injuries. It was definitely a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Other traumatic injuries that are frequently seen are broken femurs, ribs, lacerated livers and spleens, skull fractures and bleeding in the brain.

“When a patient is brought into the emergency department, they go into a dedicated trauma room which has specialized equipment stocked and ready to go inside the trauma bay,” Draney said, “from chest tubes for collapsed lungs, rapid blood transfusion, specialized traction devices for broken bones to emergent airway management equipment for patients having difficulty breathing.”

Draney said when a patient is brought in by ambulance or helicopter, the trauma department receives a prenotification call letting them know the type of injury they will be dealing with so they can have all of the right specialists on board waiting for their arrival.

Although many accidents are unavoidable, Draney said as the new trauma director, she hopes to educate people on ways to avoid ending up at the hospital.

“Wearing seat belts and helmets will help save your life. I also encourage everyone, but especially the elderly, to complete a home hazards safety check, looking for any trip, slip or fall hazards in or around your home such as clutter, cords and rugs,” she said.

Draney said she loves her job and loves being a nurse.

“One of my favorite things is seeing a patient who has been severely injured make a full recovery,” she said.

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