Ahead of the curve

Did you know that preventable injuries kill more people than cancer and heart disease combined?

“It’s true,” says Zahra Hussein, the Injury Prevention Program lead with Trauma Services at Rethink Injury, “preventable injuries kill more people in the prime of their lives (1-44) than cancer and heart disease combined — despite the fact that most injuries are both predictable and preventable. Through our Injury Prevention campaign, we’re trying to help staff gain the necessary skills to teach patients why injury prevention is so important.”

Education sessions will be free and offered to all staff in units that care for injured patients, including the Emergency Department, Burns, Plastics, Trauma, Intensive Care, Spine, Ortho Trauma, Neurology and Rehabilitation Services. The teaching sessions will promote the use of strategies for communicating injury prevention with patients,  encouraging them to make changes to reduce future injury.

Posters will be placed throughout VGH directing staff and patients alike to Rethink Injury’s new website  www.RethinkInjury.com. The site is a one-stop shop of information – for both staff and patients – regarding injury prevention, after-care resources and forms.

Significant stats

According to statistics, in 2004, 69 per cent of deaths, 84 per cent of hospitalizations and 95 per cent of emergency department visits by British Columbians were the result of preventable injuries. Most hospitalizations were the result of falls, which were also the leading cause of permanent patient and permanent total disability in the province; making these sessions even more valuable to attend. We all have a role in injury prevention.

Rethink injury.