Working to Reduce the Growing Need for Critical Care
According to the Centers for Disease Control, traumatic injury is the leading cause of death for people under the age of 44. In an average year, we treat 5,000 cases that include elderly patients who have taken life-threatening falls, injuries from vehicular crashes, blunt force trauma, penetrating wounds and industrial incidents. That’s a volume of 10 patients a day. The number grows each year.
The good news is that many traumatic injuries can be prevented, beginning with awareness and education. We continuously study how injuries happen, then look for ways to prevent them. Our goal is to reduce the incidence of death and disability in our community.
The top three categories of preventable injury we treat include:
- Older Adult Falls. About 30 percent of our trauma cases are due to falls often resulting in life-threatening injury. To prevent that, we encourage you to tell your doctor if you are falling and obtain an in-depth assessment of your risk factors. Take advantage of exercise programs intended to improved balance, such as Tai Chi. UC Health Trauma Services has assembled a fall prevention guide filled with helpful information and resources for our senior population.
- Motor Vehicle Crashes. Our experts participate in a driving safety program called Driving Angels, created for teens who’ve been involved in a minor traffic violation, received a traffic ticket, been mandated by the court or voluntarily seek training. The core program is students from local high schools talking to their peers about the dangers of unsafe driving, as well as a father who lost his teen daughter in a crash. Nurses join traffic safety experts and paramedics to show-and-tell the teens what happens to them when distracted or impaired driving leads to a motor vehicle crash. We have helped reach hundreds of teens by providing our expertise to similar programs sponsored by the Ohio Department of Public Safety, AAA and the Hamilton County Traffic Office.
- Penetrating Injuries. We provide a youth violence prevention program to the community called “Super Seeds.” Victims of gun violence share their stories, while our trauma experts medically illustrate the lifelong consequences of injuries received from violent behaviors. For more information, visit http://superseed.foundation.
UC Health can help your family, school, community group become more aware of safe, healthy practices. For members of the EMS community, we can provide your fire department with educational materials on the latest trauma care information. Please contact our Injury Prevention Coordinator, Gina Menninger, at (513) 584-5382 for additional information. We have resources available online, right here at UC Health, as well as across the region.