Advice from a trauma surgeon: Injuries can be devastating when motorcyclists don’t wear helmets

WKRG interviews Dr. Linda Ding for a news story on 

the importance of wearing motorcycle helmets. 

Trauma alerts are called every day at USA Health University Hospital when someone with life-threatening injuries is rushed to the region’s only Level 1 trauma center. When a patient arrives, an inter disciplinary team of highly trained professionals have already assembled to begin immediate care.

Linda Ding, M.D., F.A.C.S., is one of the trauma surgeons leading the in-house team. Often, these alerts bring in someone riding a motorcycle who has been in a serious accident.

In 2018, University Hospital recorded 80 patients involved in motorcycle crashes, Ding said, adding that none of those patients died, highlighting the remarkable quality of care delivered. In 2017, there were 110 patients treated following motorcycle crashes at the hospital. Two of those patients did not survive their injuries, she said.

Despite the low mortality rate, the short- and long-term disabilities associated with motorcycle crashes cannot be understated, Ding said.

Located in Mobile, Ala., University Hospital has the only Level 1 trauma center in the region. Surgeons with advanced training in trauma and critical care, such as Ding, are physically in the hospital 24 hours a day, every day, to treat those with life-threatening injuries. As a major referral center, patients with critical injuries arrive from south Alabama, portions of northwest Florida and southern Mississippi.

WKRG News 5 interviewed Ding, an assistant professor of surgery at the USA Health College of Medicine, recently. She talked about the dangers of riding motorcycles and the traumatic injuries often caused when riders don't wear helmets.

Ding is the recipient of numerous awards for teaching excellence and is currently the co-director of the surgery clerkship at the USA College of Medicine. Ding is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, a member of the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma, the Society for Critical Care Medicine, and the Association for Surgical Education.

Watch the news story on WKRG: "Do motorcycle helmets really save lives?"

Reminder: Abdul-Rahim to present on uterine artery embolization

Dr. Osama Abdul-Rahim, interventional radiologist with USA Health and assistant professor of radiology at the USA Health College of Medicine, will present the Med School Café lecture for July. Space is still available for this community lecture.

His lecture, "From the Perspective of Interventional Radiology: Uterine Artery Embolization for Abnormal Uterine Bleeding” will be held Friday, July 12, at the USA Health Strada Patient Care Center. Lunch will be served at 11:30 a.m., and the presentation will begin at noon.

Uterine embolization is a procedure that treats fibroids without surgery. Instead, the doctor, a radiologist, uses special imaging methods to treat the uterine fibroids.

The Med School Café lecture and lunch are provided free of charge, but reservations are required. For more information or to make reservations, contact Kim Partridge at (251) 460-7770 or email kepartridge@health.southalabama.edu.

Surgery gives USA employee renewed passion for life

In the year since his vertical sleeve gastrectomy, Jeremy Adcock has seen improvements in areas beyond just his health. As the organist/choirmaster at Trinity Episcopal Church in Mobile, he is now able to play the organ without getting winded and can move on the bench easier to reach the pedals.

Jeremy Adcock’s life has changed dramatically. In less than a year, he has gone from a self-described couch potato taking multiple medications to a person who exercises three days a week, runs local 5K races and no longer needs diabetic medications. He has lost 86 pounds and has a new lease on life – all thanks to a vertical sleeve gastrectomy performed by Dr. William Richards with USA Health.

Adcock, quality data/credentialing specialist for the Quality Management Department at USA Health University Hospital, said that he has experienced weight issues all his life, trying many diets along the way. He was diagnosed with type II diabetes and began taking medication with the dose increasing steadily over the years. In addition, he was taking three different medicines to manage his blood pressure. The week before his surgery, he said his A1c was elevated to 7.5, and it took all his energy just to move around his house.

Jeremy Adcock: before and after surgery

Adcock was hesitant about the surgery at first, but some research into the health benefits and what to expect, as well as understanding the small risk of side effects, helped calm his fears about the procedure. He had the surgery in July 2018 and saw a reversal in symptoms almost immediately.

“My hospital experience couldn’t have gone any better,” he said. “My surgery was on Wednesday, and I could have gone back to work the next day. That’s how great I felt. There was no pain.”

He did go home the next day, and after the surgery, Adcock said the weight started melting off, and he would feel full from small amounts of water and food. In the last year, the 44-year-old said his A1c has dropped to 5.1, he’s stopped taking his diabetic medications, and he has lost 84 pounds. To keep his muscle tone, shortly after surgery, he began going to the gym three times a week with a personal trainer and now wears a size large shirt – instead of big and tall.

“I went from being a couch potato to running in 5Ks,” he said.

He completed his first 5K in Baldwin County in April, finishing third in his age group. He said he is now addicted to running, has joined the Run Mobile running club, and plans to do at least one race a month, increasing the distance from 5K to 10K, a half marathon and beyond.

Beyond his improved health and starting an exercise routine, his surgery has impacted another important area of his life: playing the organ. He is currently the organist/choirmaster at Trinity Episcopal Church. His undergraduate degree is in organ performance, but he said that playing the organ was getting increasingly harder for him before the surgery.

“It wasn’t easy to move on the bench and accurately play passages on the pedals,” he said. “I got winded very easily. Post-surgery the organ console is a completely different animal. I don’t have to work as hard to make the music now. There is less of me to get in the way!”

Close to a year post-surgery, Adcock is amazed at the difference he has seen in his life so quickly. The surgery impacted one of his long-standing passions and has given him a new one, and he feels like he will now have many more years to enjoy them.

“I am eternally indebted to Dr. Richards for adding quality and, hopefully, many years to my life,” Adcock said. “If I hadn’t had the surgery, I truly feel I was going down a path for an early end to my life.”