Santana Ramsour, LCSW, Social Worker, St. Louis Children’s Hospital
Our featured CONTACT partner this month, Santana Ramsour, has an interesting and dynamic job. As a trauma social worker at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, Santana has the opportunity to make a huge difference in the lives of children and families experiencing crises. In her position, Santana often first meets families when they arrive at the Children’s emergency department following traumatic events. What types of events? Santana reports that common trauma cases at Children’s include children and youth who have experienced gunshot wounds, ATV accidents, car crashes, scooter- and bike-related injuries (especially “flying over the handlebars”), falls, and animal bites. She has even worked with more than one patient who survived being hit by a train.
In the emergency room, Santana provides emotional support to patients and their family members. If her patients are admitted to the hospital after receiving care in the emergency department, Santana continues to work with them, providing case management, addressing concrete needs, and helping develop safety or stabilization plans. For patients who stay at least three days, Santana administers an acute stress screening tool developed by the hospital’s psychology team. This helps her identify patients who are experiencing symptoms of acute stress and might benefit from psychological treatment designed to reduce symptoms and prevent the onset of posttraumatic stress disorder. Once she has identified patients in need, Santana often recommends that they participate in the Child and Family Traumatic Stress Intervention through Washington University’s Trauma Response Program or CASGSL’s Project CONTACT.
Santana reports that after she describes the intervention and provides brochures, families are generally open to these referrals. When caregivers are amendable, she uses the Project CONTACT portal to submit demographic and other basic information to CASGSL staff. “The portal works very well,” Santana says, expressing appreciation for the partnership with CONTACT.
Santana, who has been in her role for three years, says she greatly enjoys her work. She mentions that her favorite part of the job is the opportunity to observe and play a role in a child’s healing and recovery process. Santana explains, “When kids come in [to the emergency department], they might be unconscious, medicated, shocked—just out of it. When they start recovering, they perk up and their personalities shine through, and that is fun to watch.”
While Santana doesn’t accept community-based referrals (she only sees patients who come through the emergency room), she does want to highlight one of the hospital’s programs that is accessible to community members: the St. Louis Children’s Hospital Safety Stop. The Safety Stop is committed to increasing the safety of children in our communities through education and services related to car seats, water safety, home safety, helmets, and more. Through Safety Stop, caregivers can purchase car seats, helmets, and other safety products at cost. Safety Stop also offers free car seat installation on site. Appointments are required. To make an installation appointment, purchase a safety product, obtain a free gun lock, or request a free 90-minute presentation about safety-related topics for your group, please call 314-565-0369.