Ashland was instrumental in establishing protocols to ensure FMC met all the regulations surrounding the organ donation process, as well as providing education opportunities for hospital staff who are key to the organ donation process. Ashland has more than 25 years of trauma/nursing experience. Since joining FMC in 1998, Ashland worked as a certified flight nurse with Guardian Air, a division of Northern Arizona Healthcare, and manager of FMC’s Trauma Services before being named director of Trauma Services in 2010. In 2005, Ashland was named Nurse of the Year by the Arizona State Emergency Nurses Association. In 2006, Ashland was instrumental in helping FMC receive its designation as a state-designated Level I Trauma Center. As the only Level I Trauma Center north of Phoenix, FMC’s Trauma Center cares for more than 1,500 adult and pediatric trauma patients each year. The majority of FMC’s trauma patients come from motor vehicle accidents due to the major interstates in the area and the high volume of tourism and recreational activities such as all terrain vehicles, biking, horseback riding, skiing and snowboarding in Northern Arizona. For the families of those who are fatally injured, organ donation is an opportunity to turn tragedy into life. In 2010, 119 organ donors in Arizona gave life to 345 lives. Thousands were also healed by the 863 ocular donors and 752 tissue donors in Arizona. Today, more than 112,000 people in the U.S. are waiting for a life-saving organ transplant, with more than 2,100 people in Arizona on the organ donation waiting list. Arizonans can sign up as registered organ and tissue donors when they apply or renew their driver’s license or ID at the Motor Vehicle Division, online at DonateLifeAZ.org or calling 1-800-94-DONOR. To learn more about the programs and services offered at Flagstaff Medical Center, visit FlagstaffMedicalCenter.com. Become a friend of FMC on Facebook or follow FMC on Twitter. |