The Activities and Roles of Trauma Surgeons in the Treatment of COVID-19 Patients

Abstract

Trauma surgeons' roles in a national hospital in Korea changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, we report on their roles over a 15-month period (March 2020 to May 2021) including the eight months where the hospital was a COVID-19-only hospital. Despite shortages in medical resources including medical personnel, and intensive care unit (ICU) beds, the trauma surgeons helped to control the public health problem by assuming various roles including working in another COVID-19 ICU in Dae-gu, treating trauma patients with COVID-19 or those who needed self-quarantine, being in charge of care for some COVID-19 patients in the ICU (for two months), and performing the role of a rapid response team member for COVID-19 ICU patients. In this report, we emphasize how trauma surgeons, along with intensivists, played an active role in treatment of COVID-19 patients, and helped prevent the collapse of the healthcare system within the hospital during the pandemic.