IU/Wishard Level I Trauma Center Builds Awareness About Alcohol-Related Injuries
December 27, 2007
Contact: Todd Harper
Phone: 317-630-7808
Pager: 317-310-5972
Alcohol-related accidents account for nearly half of all trauma deaths and nonfatal injuries in the United States according to the American College of Surgeons. Each year, over 3 million individuals are hospitalized, 37 million seek emergency treatment, and 60 million seek medical attention or lose at least one day of normal activity as a result of an accident.
In 2006, nearly 18,000 people died in alcohol-related traffic accidents – an average of one every 30 minutes.
The IU/Wishard Level I Trauma Center, one of only two adult Level I trauma centers in the state, hopes to educate others about preventable alcohol-related injuries this holiday season.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about three in every 10 Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related crash at some time in their lives and, in 2006 alone, Mothers Against Drunk Driving reported that, in Indiana, 35 percent of traffic accidents with fatalities involved alcohol. This represents the fourth year in a row that Indiana’s percentage of alcohol-related traffic fatalities has increased.
Alcohol requires no digestion and is absorbed right into the bloodstream. The effects of alcohol consumption can be felt quickly and have been proven to impact a person's thinking, judgment, reasoning and reflex activity.
"Although we generally see an increase in the number of drunk driving accidents around the holidays, we also see many other injuries stemming from alcohol consumption such as careless operation of machinery or equipment and domestic violence," said Dr. Gerardo Gomez, chief of the Division of Trauma, Surgical Critical Care and Emergency Surgical Services at Wishard and director of the IU/Wishard Level I Trauma Center. "Alcohol-related injuries are predictable hence are preventable if education measures are put in place to help build community awareness about the dangers of irresponsible alcohol use."
The IU/Wishard Trauma Center treats more than 2,500 injured patients each year and became the first verified Level I trauma center in the state in 1992. It remains one of only two adult trauma centers in Indiana. A Level I trauma center is a comprehensive regional resource that is central to the trauma system. Trauma centers verified as Level I are capable of providing total care for every aspect of injury, from prevention to rehabilitation. Key elements of a Level I trauma center include 24-hour in-house coverage by general surgeons and prompt availability of care in specialties such as orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, anesthesiology, emergency medicine, radiology, internal medicine and critical care.
Level I trauma centers are committed to injury prevention, public education and continuing training of the trauma team members as well as continued improvement through a comprehensive quality assessment program and an organized research effort to help direct new innovations in trauma care.