A VITAL AND QUICK RESPONSE: Detailing Braeden Turner’s journey to recovery

Special to the Jefferson Herald

It was nearing dusk on a September day last fall in Jefferson when the EMT’s responded to the scene of an accident.  Fourteen-year old Braeden Turner was on his way home from school on his moped anticipating a Greene County football game later that night when he and another vehicle collided. EMT’s arrived promptly, and once on the scene determined Life Flight would need to be called directly to the accident. However, Turner was unresponsive, unable to breathe on his own and had sustained several injuries including a head injury and broken arm. Waiting for Life Flight to come to the scene would have delayed the care Turner needed, adding to the already urgent situation. Instead, Turner was transported by ambulance to the GreeneCounty Medical Center Emergency Department.

Once he arrived, he was quickly admitted, intubated, and stabilized in order to be air lifted to Des Moines. Among other injuries, Braeden had suffered a severe brain injury.
While in the ER at Greene County Medical Center, nurses and staff worked to help stop the bleeding on injuries he had sustained. Once stable, Braeden was transported by Life Flight to Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines. He underwent many tests for his brain injury and surgery a few days later for his arm. The first few weeks were spent waiting for Braeden to respond and wakeup.
Thankfully, a few months later, Braeden Turner walked back into GreeneCounty Medical Center with his mother Tanya Turner to continue his road to recovery. They waited patiently in the lobby for their physical therapist, one of their nine appointments they had each week. Appointments included follow-ups care such as speech therapy, occupational therapy, and physical therapy. All these services were provided locally at Greene County MedicalCenter. Having these services available locally allowed Braeden to come back home to Jefferson, and helped the Turners save money and time.

“If all three therapies were not offered at Greene County MedicalCenter, we would have to travel all the way to Ankeny, daily for these services, which would have been costly in many ways, and would have been very difficult to maintain during the winter,” Tanya said.

As the Turners continue their journey in Braeden’s recovery, they are so grateful for these local services, including the night of the accident. With the flexible schedules, patient-centered care, and empathy Greene County Medical Center staff provides, the care team assisting Braeden on his recovery journey understand his needs to help him get well and stay well.
Without ER services at Greene County Medical Center, along with quick response from the EMT’s, the Turner family would be telling a much different story today.

“He quite possibly would not be here,” said Tanya. “If the MedicalCenter ER was not available, or was not here, we would have a very different outcome. But instead, everyone went above and beyond the night of the accident to ensure Braeden could be here with us today.”