NMMC Trauma Department Team Receives State Trauma System Honors

North Mississippi Medical Center Trauma Department brought home three awards from the recent Mississippi Trauma Symposium in Meridian.

NMMC Trauma Department Team Receives State Trauma System Honors

North Mississippi Medical Center Trauma Department brought home three awards from the recent Mississippi Trauma Symposium in Meridian.
Jun 02 2022
circle of excellence group shot
Mississippi Medical Center-Tupelo recognizes the entire Trauma team serving patients. Representing the NMMC-Tupelo Trauma team are front row, from left to right: Trauma director and surgeon Dr. Charles Pigott, CareFlight nurse Bill Malone, CareFlight paramedic Stacie Graham, Trauma registrar; paramedic Patrick Graham, Trauma registrar coordinator; back row from left to right, Trauma program manager and nurse Kelly Deakle, and CareFlight and Critical Care Transport manager and nurse Javier Tiscareno. Surgeon Dr. David Gilliland also serves as Trauma co-director.

The Circle of Excellence Award awarded to North 

TUPELO, Mississippi - North Mississippi Medical Center Trauma Department brought home three awards from the recent Mississippi Trauma Symposium in Meridian.

The Mississippi Trauma Care System Foundation, in conjunction with the Mississippi State Department of Health, created the awards to recognize exceptional individuals and teams across the Mississippi Trauma System of Care. The winners were nominated by their peers around the state.

Dianne Furtick

Retired NMMC trauma registrar coordinator Dianne Furtick received the Legacy Award for Lifetime Achievement. The award recognizes a distinguished career and visionary leadership dedicated to the prevention of injuries, advancement in trauma care, and lifelong commitment to the care of trauma patients. Furtick retired from NMMC in 2020 after 27 years of service. Furtick, who now lives in Cleveland, served as an emergency medical technician, paramedic and CareFlight paramedic. As registrar coordinator she tracked the hospital’s trauma data. During her career she mentored new paramedics, served on state committees and participated in educational outreach.

Kwlly Deakle

Kelly Deakle, RN, BSN, who serves as the trauma program manager at NMMC, received the Red Tulip Award for Exceptional Trauma Service. Adopted by the American Trauma Society, the broken red tulip symbolizes the pain, suffering and lifestyle change caused by traumatic injury. The award recognizes a nursing professional who demonstrates the goal of keeping the tulip strong and has made a significant and sustained contribution to the Mississippi Trauma System of Care on a local, district and state level. Deakle, who lives in Fulton, has 21 years of nursing in emergency departments and joined NMMC in 2007.

NMMC also received the Circle of Excellence Award, which highlights the best of the Mississippi Trauma System of Care. This new award recognizes the trauma team that promotes excellent patient care through effective communication, true collaboration, decision making, critical thinking, the ability to address challenges related to patient care, and advocacy for the trauma patient.

The award recognized the efforts of North Mississippi Ground Ambulance, CareFlight, Critical Care Transport, Emergency Department and Surgery trauma teams.

Red Tulip Award