Steube thanks SMH trauma team for treating him after fall from 25-foot ladder

Correction: Dr. Ali Al-Rawi emigrated from Iraq. An earlier version of this story said otherwise.

SARASOTA – When U.S. Rep. Greg Steube first woke up after being treated at Sarasota Memorial Hospital’s Level II Trauma Center following his fall from a 25-foot-tall ladder, the first first faces he saw were members of the team that helped treat him.

“I know when I started to come to, there was a whole lineup of doctors – it was the ortho guy, it was the neuro guy, it was Dr. Ali the trauma guy – it was several different aspects of the team all working together to make sure the patients are getting the care they deserve,” Steube said Thursday, after a ceremony to thank the trauma team that treated him and Dr. Ali Al-Rawi, the medical director of the eight-year-old Level II trauma center.

Related:Sarasota Congressman Greg Steube in 'good spirits' in as he recovers from 25-foot fall

Steube’s friend and neighbor Nik Wallenda had an opportunity to publicly thank the trauma team for the care received by three members of his troupe – including his sister Lijana Wallenda – following a horrific February 2017 accident, while practicing an eight-person pyramid.

Lijana Wallenda, who landed on her head and broke every bone in her face, recovered quickly enough to perform with her brother 18 months later as part of a nationally televised wirewalk in New York City.

“I do attribute that quick and speedy recovery to the incredible trauma center – Dr. Ali in particular – who played an instrumental role in saving my sister's life as well as two other family members,” Wallenda said.

Surpassing national benchmarks

The teams of medical professionals at the SMH center treat about 4,800 severely patients a year. Steube called those professionals unsung heroes, who would otherwise receive little recognition.

“That’s 13 patients a day – think about the impact that’s having on the community,” Steube said.

While holding up the printout of a presentation slide from a Wednesday presentation to a state review panel conducting a site visit, he praised the trauma center’s survival rate.

“The program’s survival rates consistently out-perform the nation’s benchmarks,” Steube said, referencing a 4.3% national mortality benchmark.

He noted that the mortality rate at SMH has consistently been below that level and the most recent figure – from the second quarter of 2022 – was at 1.28%.

“And those numbers are illustrative of the direction that the trauma center has but every one of those numbers are lives,” Steube said, adding, ”Those are people still standing before you today – maybe on crutches – but still standing before you, enjoying life with their families, enjoying life in our community because of the care that they have here at SMH.”

Sarasota Memorial Health Care System President & CEO David Verinder used the opportunity to tout the hospital's performance ahead of a hospital board meeting where hospital's response to the COVID-19 pandemic will be under scrutiny. “This excellent performance extends throughout the hospital -- even during the past few years when we faced challenges of a global pandemic.

“In the coming days, you’ll be hearing about more of the positive outcomes – including the fact that our COVID mortality rates were 24% better than state and national benchmarks.”

Keys to a successful program

Al-Rawi – who emigrated from Iraq in 2001 and has been the medical director of the SMH trauma center since it opened – said he received his calling to treat trauma after a car accident 30 years ago took the life of his sister and left his mother in a wheelchair.

“If we had a trauma center like this, my mom would not be in a wheelchair,” Al-Rawi said.

He said the secret to a successful trauma program lies in skilled trauma surgeons, advanced practice professionals including physician assistants and advanced practice registered nurses, and the trauma staff.

“We have a  team that can work and mesh together and keep the lowest national mortality rate that we take pride in,” Al-Rawl said.

Recovery by March

Steube, in a question-and-answer period, said he remembers nothing of the time immediately before the Jan. 18 accident.

He was atop a 25-foot ladder, using a chainsaw to cut a tree branch, which knocked the ladder from under him.

Steube suffered a concussion from the fall, as well as torn neck ligaments, a punctured lung and a cracked socket in the hip bone where the femur fits, an injury that has him still using crutches.

Wednesday morning, Steube appeared at the grand opening of the Child Protection Center South County campus in North Port and presented the center with a $3 million federal earmark that will be used to expand the location.

He expects to be able to fly back to Washington, D.C., on March 1 and joked that his coach has been urging him to listen to his aide for rehab, so he can be ready for the Congressional Baseball Game.

Steube said it was a miracle he was alive.

Amazon had modified the delivery route for Darrel Woodie – driver and part-time field representative for U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan -- who saw Steube fall, so the Congressman’s house was on the driver’s side of the vehicle.

In addition, Woodie arrived at the perfect time to witness the accident.

During that same question-and-answer period, a trauma helicopter landed at the hospital.

Asked about that, Verinder apologized to neighbors who are disturbed by that sound then added, “Every time you hear a helicopter it’s another life that gets saved and another life that comes in here that quite probably would not have made it otherwise.”

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Steube honors Sarasota Memorial Hospital trauma team with ceremony