Students learn hospital party is not a fun thing

Lizanne De Souza learned a thing or two about partying at Southlake Regional Health Center.

The hospital’s new program, Prevent Alcohol And Risk-connected Trauma in Youth (PARTY), is a partnership between the hospital, York Regional Police and York Region Emergency Medical Services that brings students into the emergency and trauma departments to learn about the consequences of risky behaviour, such as impaired driving, not wearing a seat-belt and not wearing a helmet when riding a bike.

“It brings the situation up front and shows us what can really happen when we make bad decisions,” the Father Michael McGivney Catholic Academy Grade 12 student said after seeing a presentation by York Regional Police and EMS. “It shows where we could stop up and the impact it can have on everyone else in our lives.”

The program educates students so they can go out and make informed decisions about their behaviour, Southlake occupational therapist Sara Throne said. This is the first time for the program at Southlake, but Ms Thorne said it was very successful in the Ottawa hospital where she used to work.

The one-day program has students follow the path of a trauma patient from the scene of an accident, through the rehabilitation method and his return to life in the community. Presentations are made by police and emergency services personel for the period of the day.

York police explain the legal side of impaired, careless and dangerous driving, while speaking honestly about topics such as criminal negligence causing death. Explanations of accident reconstruction, what it is like at the morgue and how difficult it is to contact loved ones after an accident.

The three things that get young persons in the most trouble are speed, seat-belts and alcohol, York Regional Police Sgt. Ed Villamere said, noting during education, enforcement and the PARTY program, police hope to curb these very severe aggravating factors.

York Region paramedics talk to students about constant physical and physiological effects of brain and spinal cord damage that can result from these behaviours.

The multimedia presentations of both parties are graphic and heart-wrenching, Ms De Souza said.

“We saw videos of a girl who killed an entire family because she was texting while she was driving,” she added. “It got to us. Some of the students even had to turn their heads.”

Personally, she felt sad the family and was angry because the situation could have been prevented if the girl in the video had paid attention to driving.

“Some students don’t believe it could occur to them,” she said. “But being here and having this experience will make some think before doing things.”

Having the hands-on experience makes the situation and consequences seem more real, she said.

As president of the school’s Ontario Students Against Drunk Driving club, information assemblies are held once a year, but being in the hospital and following the route of a trauma patient has more impact, she added.

Students also have the opportunity to intubate a teaching doll or insert an IV. They also test out wheelchairs while occupational therapists, such as program co-organizer Jennifer Appelton, demonstrate the effect a brain injury has on memory, attention span, reading and the ability to hold a job.

Guest speakers hit the message home by sharing personal stories to help students avoid making the same bad decisions.