Memorial Hospital ER Dept., equipped and ready, saved two year old shooting victim

Joseph Ruffolo

2-year-old J'raeona Moore (photo courtesy WKBW TV) was treated successfully at Memorial Hospital.

On Tuesday, Nov. 27, I received a message no hospital CEO ever wants to get: A 2-year-old girl had been shot in the face and was just rushed into our emergency room.

I went directly to our ER1 Emergency Department. I could not have been more proud of the response I witnessed when I arrived.

Nurses, patient care assistants, technicians and other team members guided by a fellowship trained and board certified emergency medicine physician were working quickly, calmly and efficiently to treat little J’raeona Moore’s life threatening injuries. Our specially trained professionals, many of whom have children or grandchildren of their own, were able to put aside their emotions and focus on the task at hand, which was to save the life of this innocent child.

While our clinical team was caring for J’raeona, a growing number of her family members and friends were gathering in our ER waiting area. They were frightened and feared the worst. I was thankful to learn our security personnel and members of the Niagara Falls Police Department, Niagara County Sheriff’s Department and the New York State Police were quietly assuring them that their loved one was receiving the highest quality emergency care possible.

Thanks to our team's decisive action, J’raeona’s critical injuries were treated in a timely and highly skilled manner. Her condition was stabilized and she was soon able to be safely transported by Rural/Metro ambulance to Women & Children's Hospital.

Our thoughts and prayers are with J’raeona and her family. Our ER1 team gave that precious child a fighting chance to live. Those of us who work at Niagara Falls Memorial are so very grateful for their skill, competence and passion. I’m sure they all went home that day and gave their young ones an extra hug.

I’m also glad we made the decision several years ago to make a substantial investment in staffing our emergency department exclusively with physicians who are fellowship trained and board certified in emergency medicine. Memorial is the only such hospital in Niagara County with 100 percent boarded emergency medicine physicians. The wisdom of that decision was certainly evident in our emergency room that recent afternoon.