I would like to take a moment to say a heartfelt thank you to you and your staff. As an employee and longtime ER nurse myself, I believe kudos are warranted. My son was having respiratory distress and knowing the distance to CHOA and the response time of an ambulance Winder/Barrow was the correct option to get him seen fast. As a member of the system, I am aware of some misplaced public and perhaps even interfacility misconceptions about Barrow campus. I have nothing but a glowing review in contrast. The triage nurse, upon hearing our chief complaint, appropriately moved my son to a room, and the direct response from the MD and staff was exemplary. I feel appropriate care was delivered from the moment we hit the room and continued throughout our stay. I had zero illusions about being sent home and knew we would likely have to go to CHOA. Transport was set up in good time. "I understand how the wait is on transfer." A unit arrived to take us just as a Stroke Alert rolled in. The patient was 79-year-old male with unwitnessed but heard a fall; found down in the yard with a head bruise and unilateral paralysis, nonverbal and inappropriate affect. EMS noted that the patient takes blood thinner. All that said at the very least a trauma delta and needed to take the present unit to Gainesville.  Excellent to see as the stroke box was directly in front of my room. I feel the crew had that covered and handled in very good time. Some time passed as is the usual for the next available unit which in this case ended up being trans care. The unit that arrived was BLS only, so a miss by them as my son was on continuous 02 etc...  I had to politely request an ACLS unit to take us to which they obliged. When this unit arrived, their EKG leads were bone dry, their LIFEPAK battery was nearly dead, and they had no way to monitor my son's 02. One of your paramedics assisted them with new leads without being asked and found a sticky pulse ox. Here is where the real kudos go out..... Someone realized that the unit's LIFEPAK would not support these 02 probes and loaned the unit an X3 Monitor!  I am aware of how big of a deal that is and cannot express my appreciation enough. It was a janky ride, but my son was monitored, and we did not have to wait another 3 hours for a ride. This is awesome throughput! All of this would likely sound better in person as I am not known for my scholarly writing. Myself and my family just feel it very important that you and your whole staff know how thankful and appreciative we are for the compassionate and expedient care delivered and will be singing the praises of Barrow ER going forward.

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A house fire devastated the Winder community. An 8-year-old female was involved in the house fire and, unfortunately, was in cardiac arrest. The Barrow EMS crew transported the patient to the Barrow ED, where the team above continued to provide life-saving measures. Unfortunately, even after providing life-saving measures, the patient ultimately expired. Not only did this team provide great bedside care and lifesaving measures to the patient, they also provide respectful compassion to the family members of the expired patient. Even the following day, a family member came to the ED with questions, and Rob made sure to take the time to sit down, speak with them, and ensure their questions were answered to the best of his ability. In an event like this, especially overnight, where the staffing is minimal in a small emergency department, this team worked together to ensure everyone involved (the family, the patient, the nursing staff, and even the fire and EMS crews) was taken care of.