Making the Rounds with the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV

Making the Rounds

September 14, 2021 Issue 295

Friends & Colleagues,

Populating our state with additional skilled and compassionate physicians is one of our most important goals, but it can be a long process. It typically takes four years of medical school plus an additional 3-5 years of residency training before you have a finished product. The good news is that all of our medical students are trained as emergency medical technicians during their very first month on campus. That means every student has the basic skills to assist in almost any type of life-threatening situation, whether it be assisting accident victims or helping deliver a baby away from the hospital. Occasionally our students find themselves in situations during their everyday lives where they can use these skills, helping community members in an emergency. I think you’ll enjoy reading about such one student who stepped forward in a pinch, providing lifesaving care and taking control of a difficult situation prior to a recent Las Vegas Raiders game.

Marc J. Kahn, M.D.

Dean, Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV

Medicine By The Numbers

Traffic Related Injuries

According to the Center for Health Information Analysis for Nevada, there were 8,954 patients with road user-related injuries treated at a Nevada healthcare facility from 2017-2019.

Pedestrians account for 1,326 (14.8%) of these patients – a disproportionately large percentage considering road user volumes (there are far more people in vehicles than pedestrians).

Pedestrian average hospital stay:

8.76 days

Compared to all road users: 7.63 days
Pedalcyclists: 5.90 days
Motorcyclists: 7.74 days
Motor Vehicle Occupants: 8.10 days

The various road user groups experienced similar rates of injury severity, however pedestrians were more likely to die or be discharged to a skilled nursing or rehabilitation facility compared to other groups. Overall, pedestrians had a 2.5 times greater risk of death and 1.4 times greater risk of requiring skilled nursing at discharge compared to other road user groups.

Sign up below to receive a quarterly newsletter from our traffic safety research team with resources and relevant data for Nevada residents!

Medical Student Attending Raiders Game

Helps Save Critically Injured Fan

Elizabeth Groesbeck, Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV medical student and Raiders fan, shown near Allegiant Stadium, where she helped save the life of a pedestrian injured in a hit-and-run accident.

The Uber driver had almost made it to the drop-off point near Allegiant Stadium with third-year medical student Elizabeth (Liz) Groesbeck and a friend in the back seat. The two were on their first date and headed to the August 14th Las Vegas Raiders game, the first allowing full capacity in Allegiant Stadium since the Raiders’ move to Las Vegas.

Traffic was slow as thousands of people walked towards the stadium in 107-degree heat. Stopped at a red light, about to make the final turn before reaching the stadium, Liz saw what looked like the immediate aftermath of a hit-and-run accident less than 20 feet away. She suddenly told the driver “I need to go see if that guy is ok.”

Liz bounded from the Uber, leaving her keys, phone, and date behind.

“I saw a man on the ground…an SUV on the curb…It had to have happened seconds before” Groesbeck recalled. “People were starting to gather in the area, a few people were screaming…”

Elizabeth Groesbeck

Class of 2023 Medical Student

That’s when the 28-year-old student at the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV, who ironically had just finished her emergency general surgery rotation the day prior, walked through the crowd and kneeled on the ground next to the injured man. She immediately saw why people were screaming -- one of his arms was detached from his body.

“On-lookers were frantic and panicking. I told a bystander to call 911 and assigned someone to comfort his wife and get her somewhere that she didn’t have to see the gruesome scene.”

Known to classmates as a natural-born leader who played collegiate volleyball and still plays competitive ultimate frisbee, Elizabeth felt no hesitation in taking charge of the situation. “He was supine and breathing. A PA (physician assistant) student who happened to be nearby came forward and asked if she could help, and I got her to help with the tourniquet.” Elizabeth says they asked onlookers for belts, which they used to make a tourniquet to control the bleeding.

“There was a significant amount of blood in his mouth, but I didn’t want to move him at all, as there was a high index of suspicion for spinal injuries. One bystander who wanted to help, but had no medical training, kept yelling ‘ROLL HIM ON HIS SIDE,’ but I told him no.”

Seeing the injured man was having trouble breathing, Elizabeth got a jersey from someone in the crowd and repeatedly cleared the blood away from his mouth, which allowed him to breathe.

"Usually, I don’t like hearing about students who risk their own lives while trying to help others – they don’t have the protective gear, they don’t have the big red trucks with flashing lights, or partners to protect them at the scene. This was definitely above and beyond. I’m very proud of Liz and glad that she is okay and the patient is alive because of her heroic actions."

Douglas Fraser, MD, Associate Professor of Surgery

Elizabeth remembers the energy spent communicating with boisterous onlookers, who “had their hearts in the right place,” was a surprisingly challenging aspect. “I refused to let a bystander stick a straw down his throat to ‘help the breathing’…yeah…that was his actual idea.”

Liz and the PA student (they never got to exchange names or numbers) stayed with the man until EMS arrived to transport the patient. “I eventually got most of the blood off me with sanitizing wipes from a nearby police officer, and then my date and I continued on to the Raiders game.”

Police say this SUV was involved in the hit-and-run accident near Allegiant Stadium August 14th. Photo courtesy of KLAS-TV.

The story in the media that night was not about two Las Vegas healthcare students who put their early training to use saving a man’s life, but rather it was about a hit-and-run accident that left a man in critical condition and snarled stadium traffic.

Three days later, after learning the patient survived and reflecting on what had transpired that day, Elizabeth sat down and wrote a thank you note to Dr. Douglas Fraser, the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine Associate Professor of Surgery and UMC Trauma Chief who taught her the life-saving techniques she used outside Allegiant Stadium.

“First, I want to thank you for an awesome learning experience during EGS,” she wrote. “Secondly, I want to thank you for helping teach trauma and emergency response at my school. You doing that, saved a guy's life. Did you hear about the victim of a hit-and-run accident near Allegiant Stadium Saturday night? Pedestrian struck by a vehicle? He was on his way to the Raiders game, and I was too…”

The fact that one of his medical students stepped up in a moment of crisis is more than gratifying to Dr. Fraser, a well-respected trauma surgeon and educator.

“It was extremely thoughtful that she wrote and communicated with me after the event,” Dr. Fraser said. “My greatest joy in medicine is teaching the physicians of tomorrow and to have them put into practice what I teach them in the classroom and on the hospital wards.”

“Liz was out in the field and put herself at risk in a non-controlled environment. Usually, I don’t like hearing about students who risk their own lives while trying to help others – they don’t have the protective gear, they don’t have the big red trucks with flashing lights, or partners to protect them at the scene. This was definitely above and beyond. I’m very proud of Liz and glad that she is okay and the patient is alive because of her heroic actions.”

One of the next big steps for Elizabeth in medical school is choosing a specialty. So, will it be emergency medicine, surgery, or something else? “I’m not sure yet,” she says. “But I know this much, using the skills and knowledge I’ve acquired to help people in crisis is incredibly rewarding. I’m looking forward to applying those skills for the rest of my life.”