May is National Trauma Awareness month in America and although death is not a happy topic to talk about, it is entirely appropriate to take a few minutes to reflect on death due to trauma-related injuries, how we as concerned citizens might decrease trauma-related deaths and how access to trauma centers can mitigate some of those trauma-related deaths.
In a 2016 AP news report, one in five people who were traumatically injured from motor vehicle crashes, gunshot wounds, and a variety of other causes, died because they didn’t have timely access to a certified trauma center.
Fortunately, Rockford has three trauma centers giving the community plenty of access to timely trauma care should someone suffer a life-threatening injury. Rockford area doctors, nurses, and hospitals have committed a significant amount of resources to care for those injured, but it’s important to reflect on how people become injured, why people suffer traumatic injury, and most importantly how perhaps we might prevent traumatic injury in the first place.
The No. 1 cause of death among people age 1-44 in America is unintentional injury, and the reason most of them die is due to uncontrolled bleeding. Topping the list of causes of unintentional injury deaths are motor vehicle crash and violence-related injury, such as gunshot wound, stabbing, and physical assault.
Sadly, one in three of the 33,000 people killed in motor vehicle crashes each year die because the driver who caused the crash was impaired by alcohol intoxication or drugs – and that includes street drugs as well as prescription drugs such as Xanax, Ativan, Norco, and a whole host of others. One in three people killed in motor vehicle crashes were speeding, and one in three people were not wearing a seatbelt or were properly secured in a booster or car seat. All of these factors which contribute to death are human factors and every one of them is preventable.
There also is an undeniable culture of violence which permeates our youth across America, and young people exploit that culture of violence disproportionately within our most densely populated communities. For decades, children have been immersed in violence. Movies, TV shows, and video games glorify violence. Violence has become “cool” among a large portion of our youth. Too much unsupervised time and affiliation with violent groups or individuals all contribute to higher crime rates, increased violence, unintentional injury, and death.
But what can we do to prevent all of these deaths due to unintentional injury?
First of all, since motor vehicle crash is the leading cause of unintentional injury, we must all wear our seat belt no matter how short our car trip might be. We must ensure that our little ones are properly buckled into an age appropriate car seat or booster seat. We must choose to not drive while impaired by drugs or alcohol, we must choose to obey speed limits and not drive recklessly. And we must not drive while texting or looking at our cell phones.
With respect to violent crime prevention, we must encourage our youths to remain in school, we must do all that we can to keep our children from affiliating with gangs and individuals who adore the gang culture, and we must admonish violent behavior.
We must limit, or perhaps eliminate our youths’ exposure to violence on the television, the internet, and the video game world. We must encourage our youths to strive for a better future, to tell them with no uncertainty that their lives are valuable, and remind each and every individual that he or she has the potential to do great things in this world.
Caring for trauma victims is a complex and costly endeavor and Rockford’s three trauma centers remain committed to caring for those traumatically injured. But individuals can do so much more to prevent traumatic injury in the first place.
We must all look out for our children, for our neighbors, and for our fellow citizens and encourage them to act safely and responsibly whenever possible. But we must hold ourselves to that same standard. Prevention is the key to safety, and hopefully 2017 will be a safer year than last.
Dr. James Cole, DO, FACS, is a clinical assistant professor of surgery at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a Surgeon and Trauma Director for SwedishAmerican, a division of UW Health.