UPDATED:  December 26, 2010 5:53 PM
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Dr. Peter Rhee Provides Heroic Care to U.S. Rep Gabrielle Giffords

By: Cathy Crenshaw Doheny

When U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 10 other gunshot victims were brought into the Emergency Room of the University Medical Center (UMC) in Tucson, Arizona on January 8, they were immediately put under the care of one of the most competent trauma surgeons in the country, Dr. Peter Rhee, and his trauma team. Peter Rhee, MD, MPH, is medical director of UMC’s Trauma and Critical Care department and professor of surgery at the University of Arizona College of Medicine Department of Surgery.

“I am the trauma director and am thus the captain of the ship. I am responsible for everything during a mass casualty event,” says Dr. Rhee. “Trauma surgeons dictate what needs to be done for a patient. We will use specialists, such as neurosurgeons, when needed. However, after an operation we are the surgical intensivists, so we handle all the medical issues concerning the patient during the intensive care unit stay.”

Congresswoman Giffords suffered from a gunshot to the head with a bullet that entered her skull, traveled through her brain, and then exited out the back, leaving fragments of bone. The medical team was able to control her breathing and remove pressure in her brain, and she underwent a surgery by UMC neurosurgeons within 38 minutes of being brought to the emergency room. Following the surgery, she was moved to the hospital’s intensive care unit, where she was listed in critical condition. Eight days later, she was upgraded to serious condition, and on January 21, Dr. Rhee was scheduled to accompany her as she was transported to TIRR Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Hospital in Houston, where she would begin the next phase in her recovery.

“I am Gifford’s primary trauma surgeon and will handle other procedures that she needs, if they are not neurosurgical,” says Dr. Rhee.

An award-winning physician, Dr. Rhee earned his medical degree in 1987 from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland. He received a master's degree in Public Health - Health Services in 1995 from University of Washington, Seattle, and a Diploma in the Medical Care of Catastrophes in 1999 from the Society of Apothecaries of London, UK. Dr. Rhee completed his surgical internship at Balboa Naval Hospital, San Diego, and residency in general surgery at the University of California Irvine Medical Center. He completed a fellowship in Trauma and Critical Care at Harborview Medical Center, University of Washington, Seattle.

Dr. Rhee has practiced at some of the busiest trauma centers in the country, including Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C., and has served in Afghanistan and Iraq. He was one of the first trauma surgeons to be deployed to Camp Rhino, Afghanistan, and started the first surgical unit in Ramadi, Iraq. Dr. Rhee also served as the designated surgeon on former President Clinton's China trip in 1998.

“I trained 15 years to become a trauma surgeon and have 15 years of experience as a trauma surgeon. The last 30 years have been preparing me for incidents such as the one that occurred on January 8,” says Dr. Rhee.

Though hailed as a hero for the calm care he provided in the face of devastation, Dr. Rhee insists he is just a typical trauma surgeon.

“All trauma surgeons are capable of doing what I can do,” he says. “Trauma surgeons are preselected as people with the proper attitude and capability to handle themselves in times of crisis.”

The family of Congresswoman Giffords undoubtedly must consider the quality of care she received from Dr. Rhee and his trauma team to be anything but typical.

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