High school students get crash course in distracted driving
Teens from an Illinois high school learn the importance of staying focused on the road at hospital’s “Trauma Day.”
Nearly 100 high school students in Libertyville, Ill., experienced firsthand the negative impact of distracted driving at Advocate Condell Medical Center’s “Trauma Day” last week.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately nine Americans are killed and more than 1,000 are injured each day in crashes that are reported to involve a distracted driver.
“We felt Trauma Day was a way for high school students to see that distracted driving can impact their lives,” said Kim Kusch, RN, Trauma Coordinator at Advocate Condell. “It’s not just texting or drinking and driving. It can also be changing music, eating or talking to someone else in the car – it can all put you at risk.”
Medical personnel led the teens through a variety of stations, including a distracted driving simulator, sobriety tests while wearing “drunk goggles”, hands-on lessons in suturing, and a trip to the hospital’s helipad. Also present were members from Libertyville Fire and Police, Flight for Life and Gift of Hope.
“We hope that this program will help the students make good decisions when they’re driving or in the car with others,” Kusch said. “And that they’ll just make smart decisions overall so they can live long, happy and healthy lives.”
To view a brief video from Advocate Condell’s Trauma Day, simply click here or copy/paste this link into your browser: http://youtu.be/ZXMpUEnfS84
Coordinator, Public Affairs & Marketing
847-990-5287
Kellee.Lemcke@advocatehealth.com
For over 85 years, Advocate Condell Medical Center has been the leading provider of comprehensive medical and surgical services in Lake County, with state-of-the-art heart, neurosurgical, maternity and emergency services. Condell's emergency department is the only Level 1 Trauma Center in Lake County, Illinois, treating the area's most seriously injured patients. It also features the only dedicated pediatric emergency department in the county. Advocate Condell’s Heart & Vascular, Orthopedic & Spine, and Cancer Institutes combine the expertise of highly skilled physicians and exceptional clinicians to deliver the best outcomes for heart, cancer and orthopedic and spine patients. Condell was named a Truven 100 Top Hospital and a 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospital in 2014.
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