The pediatric trauma team from McLane Children’s Medical Center stood in a circle before their breakout session at the 2025 Trauma Quality Improvement Program Conference in Chicago. Hands joined. Heads bowed. A quiet prayer for wisdom, clarity, and the people who needed to hear their message.
As slides filled with trauma data appeared onscreen, Sarah Wheat, trauma program manager, shared how TQIP data helps the team identify needs, expand services and respond to a growing pediatric population. Dr. Hayden Stagg, medical director of the trauma program, spoke about unity, selflessness and service. Krista Easley, injury prevention and outreach coordinator, reflected on the relationships that have shaped the team.
Then Lauren Prouty, the program’s lead registrar, shifted the conversation from numbers to names. Behind every outcome, data point and quality metric, she reminded attendees, is a child, a family and a story. Her work earned one of only three national TULIP Awards presented through the American College of Surgeons.
Nearly 300 people attended the session. One attendee later remarked that the presentation had “filled his cup.”
The team returned home having shared more than a trauma program’s results. Conference attendees saw how data guides decisions, how families remain at the center of every discussion, and how community support helps make that work possible.
