Sen. Butch Miller presents the 2019 Governor’s Award for Trauma Excellence to Habersham County Emergency Services Director Chad Black. (RTAC)
Years before he became the director of Habersham County Emergency Services, Chad Black was a flight paramedic. It was his job to keep critically injured patients alive on their way to the hospital. The lack of adequate trauma services in northeast Georgia made the high-stress job even more stressful.
“We were flying a lot of trauma patients directly over Northeast Georgia Medical Center to other trauma centers in the Atlanta area,” he recalls. They were even flying some patients to South Carolina because there were “zero trauma centers here,” Black explains.
The here to which he’s referring is the far northeast corner of Georgia. It’s EMS Region 2. It includes 13 counties that sit, generally, north of Interstate-85 and east of Interstate-575.
Now, instead of flying over Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC) in Gainesville, air ambulances fly trauma patients to it.
Chad Black is partly responsible for that.
Rising to the occasion
In the mid-2000s, when the state started looking at ways to improve trauma services in the region, Black stepped up and spoke out about the need for a trauma center. He did more than talk, though; he used his influence and knowledge as a career first responder to encourage NGMC to “rise to the occasion.”
“We simply sat down, went over what the American College of Surgeons requirements were for a Level II Trauma Center, and they were shocked how close they were to meeting the requirements already,” he says.
Black worked with NGMC hospital administrators and other medical professionals to make the trauma center a reality. After several years, their efforts paid off.
In 2013, the state of Georgia designated Northeast Georgia Medical Center as a Level II trauma center.
Today, it remains the only trauma center in region 2 and is one of only 31 in the state.
Prestigious honor
Recently, Black’s peers honored him for his role in helping to develop the NGMC trauma center. They also recognized him for his more than 35-years of dedicated service in the field.
On November 1, the Regional Trauma Advisory Committee (RTAC) for region 2 presented Black with its prestigious Nathan Deal Governor’s Award for Trauma Excellence.
State Senator Butch Miller (R-Gainesville) presented the award to Black during the RTAC Trauma Symposium at Lanier Technical College in Gainesville.
Miller said Black “understood from the beginning that the citizens of northeast Georgia were under-served when it came to trauma care.” He added that Black’s collaboration with many others “has changed the trauma care landscape for citizens, EMS providers, and the hospitals of region 2 and beyond.”
Speechless
The award presentation caught Black by surprise. When Miller called him up to the stage, the usually calm career first responder wasn’t sure he would make it.
“My knees started to shake, and my throat became dry. I instantly became a nervous wreck,” Black recalls. “For once in my life, I instantly became speechless!”
Being honored like that by his peers left Black both humbled and happy. Still, he says, “There are so many who have done a lot for our region who could have also been selected to receive this award.”
Regional EMS Director and longtime friend Lanier Swafford says Black deserves it.
“Not only has he spent much time and effort improving trauma care across Georgia, and especially in Northeast Georgia, he has done the same for cardiac care and the overall improved delivery of EMS across our great state.”
Making a difference
In 2018, Black presented the Governor’s Award to its namesake and inaugural recipient, then-Gov. Nathan Deal. He calls receiving this year’s award, “a great honor.”
The etched glass trophy is a nice addition to the HCES office in Hollywood: The professional recognition is an impressive addition to Black’s resumé. Still, that is not what motivates him.
Chad Black has devoted nearly four decades of his life to the Fire, EMS, and Air Medical services. For him, it’s about helping people.
“By having a Trauma Center in our region, now patients are receiving excellent care, receiving that care much sooner, and families are not having to go to Atlanta or another state to be with their loved ones,” he says.
Earlier this year, the American College of Surgeons verified NGMC Gainesville’s Level II Trauma Center. The verification confirms that the hospital provides the resources necessary to address the trauma needs of all injured patients.
As he pivots attention away from himself, Black calls the verification “another huge accomplishment on the part of the hospital and trauma program.” He talks about the lives that have been saved since the trauma center first opened and adds, “I just can’t say enough good about all this program has accomplished in such a short period of time.”
