March 2011
Recovering trauma patient
Nicholas Williams speaks to Braemar College students from his bed in the Royal
Melbourne Hospital.
Don’t crash the party, students told
Under the Prevent Alcohol and
Risk-Related Trauma in Youth (P.A.R.T.Y.) program, 30 students from Braemar
College at Woodend spent a day in the hospital’s emergency department,
intensive care unit, trauma wards and rehabilitation units.
The visit gave them an insight
into the treatment and care required by patients admitted to the hospital with
acute injuries following traumatic events such as motor vehicle accidents and
assaults.
The day-long session was a mix
of hands-on simulation exercises and presentations by nurses, doctors,
paramedics and patients in parts of the hospital where trauma patients are
treated and cared for after admission.
The students found themselves transfixed
at the bedside of recovering patient Nicholas Williams, a road accident victim
who was seriously injured when his motor scooter and a car collided at a city
intersection.
Describing his ordeal –
that inflicted severe head, limb and internal injuries – Mr Williams
urged his young audience to be vigilant as road users, reminding them that even
a momentary lapse of concentration could have horrific and possibly fatal
consequences.
The education program is
structured to:
• Educate
youth to recognise risks;
• Increase
awareness and responsibility for the choices made by young people;
• Increase
young people’s knowledge of the consequences of injury on the quality of life
for the individual and the community;
• Empower
youth to make informed, smart choices;
• Promote
injury prevention initiatives;
• Contribute
to a reduction in incidents of risk-related trauma involving young people.
Director of the hospital’s
Trauma Service Associate Professor Rodney Judson said in the past five years,
the Royal Melbourne Hospital had admitted more than 5,000 patients aged between
15 and 25.
Thirty percent of these had
sustained life-threatening injuries with long-term consequences.
The most common causes of these
injuries were road trauma (48 per cent), assaults (28 per cent) and falls (14
per cent).
‘Overall, 35 percent of trauma
cases where serious and life-threatening injuries are sustained involve drugs
or alcohol or a combination of both,’ said Associate Professor Judson.
‘We hope, through this program, young
people will have a greater awareness of the consequences of risk-taking
behaviour and that this will translate into fewer traumatic injuries and
admissions in future.’
The P.A.R.T.Y. program started
in Canada in 1990.
It now operates at more than 100
sites worldwide.
The program was set up at the
Royal Melbourne Hospital with funding from the Department of Health.
Students from a further 18 secondary
schools and colleges in Victoria have enrolled for the program at the Royal
Melbourne Hospital this year.
Students completed
questionnaires immediately before and after their participation in the program
– and will do so again in three months.
This data will be collated to evaluate what impact the program has on their risk-taking knowledge and behaviours.
