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Injury Prevention

Injury Prevention Flyer

Step Smart

“Step Wise Lee” started as a community-wide initiative launched by the Lee County Injury Prevention Coalition to help older adults, their friends and families prevent fall-related deaths. Step Wise Lee had expanded into Collier County with the Step Smart Collier Falls Prevention Coalition. This past year, Lee Health Trauma Center and Step Smart Collier started developing a region wide effort with the falls prevention program. On September 22, 2020, the first day of fall,” Step Smart” was unveiled as the new Falls prevention program to cover all of Southwest Florida. Since the goal has always been to get Step Wise Lee in all five counties of the service area, and any other county in Florida who wanted to use the program, it made sense to change the name to Step Smart for all to use. As of September Step Wise Lee is known as Step Smart. The Lee County Injury Prevention Coalition, Lee Health Trauma Center and Step Smart falls prevention coalition looks forward to expanding into more counties in Florida. 

Falls continue to be the number two trauma alert seen at the trauma Center. Falls can occur in any age group, and are both unintentional and preventable. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), falls occur more often in senior adults and are the leading cause of injury deaths in persons over 65 years of age. However, falls are not a normal, natural part of aging.

Learn more information about Step Smart and their resources here! 

G.A.T.E. - Gang Awareness Training Education 

G.A.T.E. (Gang Awareness Training Education) is a youth violence prevention program. The G.A.T.E. pro- gram is an evidence based program that can be taught in schools, after-school programs, camps and youth groups. Specially trained instructors use interactive role play to empower kids with the skills to help them make the right choices when facing conflict such as: 

  • Setting goals and sticking to them Resisting peer pressure 
  • Peacefully resolving conflicts Taking steps to reduce stress 
  • Using words and actions to help stop the cycle of bullying Understanding the way gangs can impact their quality of life Avoiding drug, alcohol, and tobacco use Internet Safety ,Bullying/Cyber bullying 

G.A.T.E. is lead locally by the Lee County Trauma Services District.  Curriculums are age appropriate and start with Kindergarten through high school. The curriculum is flexible and can be done with small groups of students if a problem arises with the group.

Youth Sports Injury Prevention (Concussion/Hyperthermia)

In the United States, about 30 million children and teens participate in some form of organized sports and more than 3.5 million have injuries each year. About one third of all injures incurred in childhood are sports related injury and the most common are sprain and strains.

Our goal therefore is to keep kids as safe as possible while playing, so that they can continue to play hard for a lifetime. The target audience the "Youth Sports Injury Prevention" program includes youth athletes, parents, coaches, and referees. We have created multiple “sport specific” programs (baseball, football, soccer, and cheerleading). Each program focuses on injuries particular to specific sports and all presentations include information on hyperthermia, hydration, concussions, and return to play policies, emergency action.

TNTT (Trauma Nurses Talk Tough) 

Presented in area High Schools. Developed by trauma nurses in an effort to prevent senseless deaths, this program is all about prevention. No matter how skilled we are at trauma care, injury still is the leading cause of death for people ages 5- 44. This program is a case study type program that is adjusted to the length of the class. The program shows the teens, the crash and talks about the consequences afterword. It instills why youth need to stay focused on the road when they are driving. Most teens will have their first crash within the first six months of getting their driver’s license. 

Young Driver program 

The Young Driver Program is a spin off from the High Risk Driver program. On the post High Risk Driver evaluations, it was consistently noted that all drivers should have to attend the High Risk Driver Program and that new drivers in particular should attend. 

In collaboration with LCSO traffic division, FHP and AAA, Lee Health Trauma Services was able to start the Young Driver Program. The cost of the program is covered by the High Risk Driver program and is free to the participants. This course is three hours in length and a certificate of completion is given at the end of the program. 

The program covers a case study presentation of real cases and what the consequences were. The program also teaches the young driver what their responsibility is to pedestrians and bicyclist while they are driving a motor vehicle. The class also covers legal issues for their age group as well as consequences and then we have a presentation about distracted driving. We also utilize the fatal vision goggles to demonstrate varying degrees of blood alcohol levels and how a person reacts. Vision is distorted causing behaviors similar to those exhibited by someone under the influence of alcohol and other drugs. Participants wear the goggles while performing various tasks. The Virtual Driving Program One Simple Decision allows the teen to be driving on the roadway while texting or to be driving intoxicated. Depending on the type of crash the student is involved in they may encounter police, EMS, hospital and court scene.

Contact: Syndi Bultman RN,MSM,CEN  for more information on this program.  

High Risk Driver Program

The High Risk Driver Program was started in 2007 in response to the court system sending individuals to us to spend community service time in the trauma center. Community service hours are not done in the Trauma Center, not only is it not cost effective, we need to conform to the HIPPA laws. The High Risk Driver program includes case study presentation of trauma victims and the consequences, Bike/ped. safety as well as the responsibilities of the driver to bicyclists and pedestrians, laws and consequences by LCSO Traffic Division and distracted driving by Stay Alive, Just Drive. This is the only program we charge a fee. This $30.00 fee covers the cost of the program and any funds remaining are placed in a restricted fund for Injury Prevention in Lee County. Additional funds from this program started the Young Driver Program which is free of charge, G.A.T.E Youth Violence Prevention program, and a donation to Drug House Odyssey.

To register for this program go to www.leehealth.org/classes click on High Risk Driver program,. Look for the Blue colored Book, to register for this program. This program is held  only one time per month and registration must be done by 2pm the day before the class. You will get an email with the link at 4pm the night before the class. 

Stop the Bleed 

Following the Hartford Consensus which calls for a seamless, integrated response system that includes the public, law enforcement, EMS/Fire/rescue, and definitive care to employ the Threat response in a comprehensive and expeditious manner and utilize all 3 levels of first responders: Immediate responder’s professional first responders and trauma professionals.
Hartford Consensus uses the acronym THREAT: 

  • Threat suppression 
  • Hemorrhage control 
  • Rapid Extrication to safety 
  • Assessment by medical providers 
  • Transport to definitive care 

Threat suppression: Local EMS agencies began integrated training with Law Enforcement utilizing SAVE pro- gram (Swift Victim Extraction Transport to Definitive Care) Led by Lee County EMS Training Division This program has training on Hemorrhage Control, Rapid Extrication, Medical Assessment, and Transportation to Care (by both usual means and unconventional means.) 

Stop the Bleed education continues in Southwest Florida through LCEMS, Local Law Enforcement, and Lee County Trauma District. All educational programs were cancelled this year due to COVID 19 and social distancing.