The UTMB Health executive who oversees League City's emergency department spent Sept. 11, 2001, standing in a New Jersey ambulance bay, waiting for patients who never came.
Christine Wade was an emergency department nurse that morning. Her hospital activated its mass-casualty response after the attacks on the World Trade Center, and staff flooded in. Surgeons, anesthesiologists and nurses gathered, ready to treat the injured from across the Hudson River.
"People just weren't coming," Wade said in a UTMB Health profile published ahead of the 25th anniversary. "Nobody ever came. There was no one to save."
That morning changed her career.
Twenty-five years later, Wade is vice president of Surgical and Procedural Services at The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB Health). Her responsibilities have included overseeing the Galveston and League City emergency departments and helping build the system's infectious disease biocontainment program. She joined UTMB in 2012 after spending about a decade in New Jersey emergency departments, including at a major trauma center near New York City.
What it means for League City
UTMB Health's League City campus is part of a regional emergency network anchored by the Galveston Level I Trauma Center, the lead trauma facility for nine Southeast Texas counties. That center is also the region's only American Burn Association-verified burn center.
The system prepares for hurricanes requiring ride-out operations, industrial incidents, active shooter situations and mass-casualty events. In July, the UTMB Police Department conducted an active shooter drill at UTMB Health Primary and Specialty Care, Town Center, at 2660 Gulf Freeway South in League City, coordinating with local agencies.
Dylan Lancaster, associate vice president of Institutional Preparedness at UTMB Health, said the Gulf Coast location creates a complex risk profile. The emergency management program uses an all-hazards approach that includes risk assessments, emergency operations planning, training exercises and disaster recovery.
The University of Texas Board of Regents also approved a $300 million expansion at UTMB's League City hospital campus, according to Community Impact Newspaper, citing a February UTMB news release.
Preparing a new generation
Wade told UTMB that some nurses entering the profession were not yet born when the attacks happened. She compared that generational distance to the way her own generation learned about Pearl Harbor.
Wade said she believes preparation is the only thing that saves people in a crisis. UTMB Health teams regularly train for scenarios ranging from severe weather to mass-casualty incidents.
The League City Fire Department, which works alongside UTMB in the local emergency chain, earned the American Heart Association's Mission: Lifeline EMS Gold achievement award on Tuesday, Sept. 8, according to the city. The department was also named to the Target: Heart Attack Honor Roll and Target: Stroke Honor Roll for reducing time between a patient's first medical contact and hospital treatment.
Residents who witness an emergency or need to report safety concerns can call 911 or reach the League City Police non-emergency line at 281-332-2566.
