Backus shows grim reality of drunken driving
PrintNORWICH – As the only Trauma Center east of the Connecticut River, The William W. Backus Hospital sees its share of serious car crashes involving young people.
To help educate youngsters about the dangers of drinking and driving, the nurses in the hospital’s Trauma Center, in partnership with American Ambulance of Norwich, created the “Be Aware – Don’t Go There” program to help teen-agers make wise choices and prevent these needless tragedies.
The program, which touches the lives of more than 700 students throughout eastern Connecticut each year, was recently showcased in the Hospital’s auditorium for members of the Eastern Connecticut Chamber of Commerce Leadership Group.
The program has had quantifiable results locally. For example, in Griswold, a school system that has participated in the program each year since 1998, trauma patients have decreased from 25 in 1998 to 15 in 2002.
“I’d like to think some of this is due to injury prevention efforts,” said Cindy Arpin, RN, Trauma Program Manager at Backus.
Every day nationwide, 16 teen-agers die in traffic crashes. While people ages 15 to 20 make up less than 7 percent of the drivers, they are involved in 15 percent of all fatal crashes.
The emotionally charged program at Backus includes a video of drunken driving crashes through the eyes of teenage trauma patients, EMS, police, hospital staff and victims’ families. The video is followed by a guided tour, showing the path a trauma patient would take, from American Ambulance to Emergency Department to Critical Care Unit and even the morgue. Students also meet personnel who would care for them should they survive a crash, and are introduced to medical equipment that would be used in an effort to save lives.
“Having seen the devastating effects drunk driving crashes can have on families and entire communities, Backus Hospital is doing everything it can to prevent these tragedies from ever occurring,” Arpin said.