Youth and Road Trauma Forum 2008
The Road and Youth Trauma Forum is an annual event organised by the Western Sydney Area Health Service (WSAHS) and the Westmead Hospital Trauma Service. The forum provides Year 11 and 12 school students a realistic look at the trauma caused by road crashes and provided them information and strategies in an attempt to reduce the number of serious injuries and deaths.
This year’s event was held in the Acer Arena at Homebush Bay from Tuesday 13 to Thursday 15 May and attracted 12,000 students from over 100 government and non-government schools.
Students and teachers witnessed the rescue and treatment of patients involved in a simulated motor vehicle crash. The scenario involved a motor vehicle containing three young people returning from a party. On their way home they are involved in an accident when the driver is distracted by a mobile phone. They collide with a motorcyclist (who suffers moderate/severe injuries) and then crash into an object on the side of the road. An unrestrained rear seat passenger is ejected from the car (and is deceased), while the front seat passenger is trapped with serious injuries. The driver escapes with minor injuries.
This demonstrates the harsh reality of the dangers of inattention while driving. This demonstration highlights the roles of the individual services (Ambulance, Police and Fire Brigade) and how a co-operative effort is required in a rescue situation.
This year, Ambulance provided the rescue component and a number of officers from stations within Sydney Division participated. Following the rescue demonstration, students visited a number of interactive displays from the emergency services, NRMA, Trent Driving School driving simulator, Volvo truck roll-over simulator, witnessed wheel chair basketball, a vehicle stopping distance demonstration and listened to talks from victims of trauma.
As in previous years, the Youth and Road Trauma Forum proved to be a great success and was an educational experience not only for the students and teachers but also for those who participated.
Ambulance is committed to assisting the community create safer and healthier environments and outcomes by making prevention everyone’s businesses. A number of innovative community education programs have been implemented to assist identify life threatening conditions, understand what to do in an emergency and the importance of adopting illness prevention strategies.