Trauma Network Helps Families Cope: www.mytsn.org
For more than a month last year, Shawn Coltharp kept vigil while her 26-year-old daughter lay critically injured in Vanderbilt’s Trauma Center after a car accident. Coltharp wasn’t sure what to do or where to turn. Now patients and family members in Coltharp’s shoes can learn from the Vanderbilt Trauma Survivor’s Network (TSN), an Internet-based system for communication among current and former patients’ families. Through blogs and chat rooms, families share experiences and learn from others.
The site contains loads of practical information, from explanations of different types of injuries to information about medical rounds.
“We’re going to help those families who were just like mine—frustrated, angry and scared,” says Coltharp, who is acting as a consultant to the TSN.