Utah accident survivor meets the surgeons who saved his life

PROVO — A patient awakens briefly in the intensive care unit at Utah Valley Hospital, a level 2 trauma center. He is restrained in his bed to prevent him from pulling his IVs and feeding tube. It is the only fleeting memory he has of most of his more than three-week hospital stay.

He cannot even remember the accident that caused him to be there.

"I had no idea where I was, or why I was there," said Brad Benson. "But I saw my family in the room, and I was begging them to cut me loose."

Benson and his wife Julie own the Big Mountain Lodge in Ferron, Emery County — a more than two-hour drive outside of Provo. He and his crew were building a new barn on his property in October of 2024. While installing floorboards on the second level, he fell through a gap in the boards to the concrete below. He landed on his left side, and his head took the brunt of the fall.

His wife recognized that with the head and potential neck injuries, it was best not to move him until help arrived. It took her and several others to keep Benson still as he went in and out of consciousness.

A Life Flight helicopter, paramedics and nurses stationed at Intermountain Health's Utah Valley Hospital serve an area that extends from the Point of the Mountain south to Beaver, and east and west throughout rural Utah and into neighboring states. Normal protocol would be to have Benson driven by ambulance to a hospital in Price or Richfield, then sent to Provo, if necessary.

The right call

Ferron is a small town with a volunteer fire department. An emergency medical technician who was among the first on the scene recognized that Brad Benson needed help quickly. That EMT called Life Flight dispatch directly and requested the helicopter come to Ferron rather than waiting for a call from whichever hospital he might be taken to.

Dr. D Millar, a general and critical care surgeon and Utah Valley's trauma medical director, said that call by the EMT may have been lifesaving for Benson.

In addition to the time saved between hospitals, the flight medics can make decisions and administer drugs that aren't possible on most ground ambulances.

Kevin Kemp was the flight paramedic who, along with an ICU-trained nurse, treated Benson. According to Kemp, Benson had broken ribs and a deflated lung, in addition to head injuries. His breathing and drugs to limit swelling of his brain were the primary concerns.

"His condition was unmistakenly critical, and the EMT on scene made the correct call in asking for us to be dispatched," said Kemp.

Millar and other members of the trauma team work full-time at Utah Valley Hospital. They are supplemented by a variety of surgeons and other specialists who are on call. In 2024, the hospital treated nearly 2,400 trauma patients, many from rural areas throughout Utah.

Dr. John Edwards, a certified neurosurgeon at Provo's Summit Brain, Spine and Orthopedics, is on call at the hospital seven nights per month. He received the call to assist the trauma team in treating Benson that day.

Numerous head and brain injuries were present; they included a subdural hematoma, subarachnoid hemorrhage and an epidural hematoma that required a craniotomy to remove a portion of Benson's skull to access his brain and stop the hematoma's spread. Multiple skull fractures had contributed to his injuries.

What makes a trauma center?

According to Millar, much of what makes a trauma center is staffing and the supplies that go with it. When a helicopter is inbound with a patient like Benson, numerous hospital staff and needed on-call specialists are alerted. An operating room is reserved, and the blood bank is alerted as to what may be needed. A dedicated trauma room in the emergency center is where these patients are taken first.

"We activate ourselves, and the entire machine turns on," Millar said. "Our plan is that within 15 minutes of that patient's arrival, we can take them to surgery (and) if needed. A team of about 20 humans is activated and ready when we get a high-level alert."

Edwards is confident that as little as a 30-minute delay in Benson's care related to his hematoma would have been life-threatening.

"Minutes count and trauma is a team sport," he said. "It's done by a group of people with a variety of skills that is available 24/7 and 365 days a year in a trauma center like this one."

As a level 2 trauma center, Utah Valley Hospital is bound by the 15-minute plan Millar articulated. The staffing, spaces and supplies necessary for that are guaranteed to be available at any time.

What separates Utah Valley from the level 1 trauma centers in Salt Lake City is staffing. Level 1 centers are teaching hospitals, which include many resident surgeons and medical research conducted on-site. According to Millar, Utah Valley does not have a dedicated burn unit. Severe burn victims will be transferred to Salt Lake hospitals after being stabilized.

Registered nurse Maranda Davis is the Utah Valley Hospital trauma program manager. Her job is to make certain Millar's 15-minute plan is feasible.

According to Davis, the presence of a level 1 or 2 trauma center in a community is about more than direct patient outcomes at a hospital. A trauma center attracts specialists like Edwards to the community. The level of care available to a community on an outpatient basis is also increased.

Unlikely reunion

Before Jan. 3, when they all gathered at the hospital, Benson had no memory of Millar, who had tended to him during most of his post-operative care and in the ICU.

Millar recalled being present during that one lucid moment of Benson's in the ICU when he begged his family to cut his restraints. At the time, Benson told Millar his son kept a pocketknife in his nightstand and could use it to free him.

Benson had met Edwards during follow-up visits and heard about Millar and the care he received. Edwards and Millar said it is rare, with trauma patients, to see them again so far along in their recovery. Both doctors were excited and emotional at the opportunity to see Benson.

He is still in therapy for vision problems caused by his accident and he also wears hearing aids as a result of inner ear damage, but he is grateful to be alive and his family is happy to have him home and healing.

Correction: An earlier version incorrectly identified Brad Benson as Brad Jenson.

Related topics