Share:
Shock room Doctors want to prevent accidents with students
In 2014, 3,368 people were killed in traffic accidents in Germany and 389,000 were injured. Road users aged 18 to 24 have the highest risk of accidents and death. Excessive speed, mobile phone use at the wheel, driving under the influence of alcohol or lack of driving experience are just a few of the reasons for the many young people who are at risk for themselves and others each year on the road. A doctors project is intended to encourage students to behave rationally on the road. At "Party", young people between the ages of 15 and 17 are confronted at first hand with the dangers and, above all, the consequences of traffic accidents.
Accident prevention program is designed to deter teens from carelessness in traffic
A 16-year-old student is lying in the street while a paramedic puts on a ruff. Then the boy is brought on the stretcher in an ambulance. In the shock room of the hospital to the right of the river Isar in Munich, a doctor uses ultrasound to examine the abdominal area for possible internal injuries, as organs often tear in traffic accidents.
(Image: Kzenon-fotolia) The 16-year-old participates together with the 10th class of the Munich Asam-Gymnasium in the accident prevention program "Party" of the German Society for Traumatology (DGU). Close up, the boy and his classmates were able to experience what happens after a traffic accident. "Party" stands for "Prevent Alcohol and Risk Related Trauma in Youth" (meaning "prevention project against accidents of adolescents caused by alcohol consumption or risky behavior").
The boy is glad when the ruff is removed again. "You can not perceive the environment with the neck brace, you do not see the people around it, just the sky, that's a weird feeling," he told the news agency "dpa".
Students should be shown the consequences of accidents as close to reality as possible
The aim of the program is to show students as realistically as possible the dramatic consequences of serious traffic accidents in order to encourage them to act reasonably in road traffic. It should not be a matter of "Party" to meet the adolescent with a raised index finger. "This is usually in here and then out again," explains Uli Schmucker of the Academy of Traumatology, which belongs to the DGU, in an interview with the news agency. Nationwide, such action days for pupils take place at about 30 clinics.
"As a transregional trauma center, we treat many seriously injured. That is why we want to make a contribution to the prevention of accidents in adolescent patients, "explains Prof. Peter Biberthaler, Director of the Department of Traumatology at Klinikum rechts der Isar. As part of the "Party" project day, the Department of Traumatology received a certificate as a national training center, so that in the future doctors from German accident clinics can be trained there to become "party" instructors. "We see it as an important task to train young and interested doctors from all over Germany for the 'Party' program as instructors," emphasizes Priv.-Doz. Stefan Huber-Wagner, chief medical officer of the clinic and co-initiator of the project. Prior to the certification of the Munich Hospital, this was only possible in Germany at the Accident Clinic in Cologne-Merheim.
Students should see the real thing and understand how dramatic the consequences of traffic accidents are
In Bavaria, more than 17,000 young people and young adults between the ages of 15 and 24 had an accident in 2014, as figures from the Bavarian State Statistics Office show. Often, alcohol, drugs or overconfidence have led to careless behavior in traffic. The project aims to prevent such accidents. "Even a little inattention is enough to destroy one's own or the lives of others," explains Marc Beirer, resident physician at the university hospital, to the news agency.
Within a few hours, students will learn about the process of medical care following a traffic accident - from the ambulance to the trauma room, to the intensive care unit and later to the infirmary. "You should not only see and forget that, but have a good idea of how it will work in an emergency," says Beirer.
The students also have the opportunity to speak with an affected person. The 17-year-old Marold reports on his serious accident, in which he has suffered a fractured thigh. After the one-hour operation, his first words were: "What time is it and where am I?" He can not remember the time between the accident and the surgery.
He tells the students that he was with a buddy on the way to vocational school, when the car slipped on a wet road and hit a tree. The fire brigade had to fetch the seriously injured student from the wreckage. That was only one and a half weeks ago. Marold is still sitting in a wheelchair, his circulation is weakened by the large blood loss, the operation and the long lying. The running he has to practice slowly again. Muscle building takes place after the hospital in the rehab.
"These are seconds that cause such an accident, and the way that comes after that is a very long way," quotes the news agency Moritz Crönlein, Marold's attending physician. "Until everything is restored, it will probably take three months." The boy was still with a "black eye" get away. (Ag)