Injury Prevention
The leading cause of death and injury for people under age 44 across the United States is major trauma. The trauma center at Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center has been verified as a Level III Trauma Center by the Verification Review Committee (VRC),
an ad hoc committee of the Committee on Trauma (COT) of the American College of Surgeons. Sierra Vista was first approved by the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors to be the first-ever designated trauma center in San Luis Obispo in March 2012.
The Sierra Vista Trauma Team in collaboration with staff at Twin Cities Community Hospital work to provide compassionate, high-quality care to injured patients and to provide trauma prevention programs to our community. Injury prevention education
is a vital component to our commitment to reducing the number of injuries in San Luis Obispo County. We offer several different local injury prevention programs:
Stop the Bleed
The Hartford Consensus, in collaboration with the American College of Surgeons, emphasizes that no one should die from uncontrolled bleeding. The public, as immediate first responders, should know how to stop bleeding should a natural or man-made incident occur. Tenet Health Central Coast offers free "Stop the Bleed" community trainings to schools, churches, businesses and any other groups that are interested. No medical background is required for these trainings. If you are interested in scheduling a training, please call the Sierra Vista Trauma Program manager at (805) 546-7823 or email [email protected]. You can also find more information at: www.bleedingcontrol.org.
All citizens can help save lives!
Friday Night Live: Every 15 Minutes
This two-day program targets high school students and focuses on the risks associated with underage drinking. The teens witness the consequences of a staged drunk driving crash and are challenged to think about drinking, driving, personal safety and the impact their decisions have on family and friends. The trauma prevention program and emergency department staff have been actively involved with Every 15 Minutes for many years. The hospital staff performs a mock resuscitation of the teens that are transported to the Emergency Department from the staged drunk driving crash. The life-like images of injuries and death are filmed along with the staged crash scene and shown at the high school assembly.
Cal Poly "Safe Zone" Campaign
Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center is concerned about the irresponsible and potentially dangerous use of alcohol by local college students, particularly those under the age of 21. In order to combat the fear and anxiety some students might feel about seeking medical help for a severely intoxicated friend, Sierra Vista has created a "Safe Zone" policy. This policy means that any student who helps a friend seek treatment for alcohol poisoning will not get in trouble.
Student Athlete Concussion Testing
Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center and San Luis Sports Therapy have collaborated to bring the ImPACT Concussion Testing Program to several San Luis Obispo County high schools. ImPACT Concussion Testing provides a baseline “normal” test for student-athletes. Should an athlete sustain a head injury due to an impact that occurs during competition, doctors will have the ability to compare the follow-up test to compare the extent of the injury. Based on that secondary test, doctors, coaches and team athletic trainers will have much more information at their disposal by which to judge a student-athlete’s ability to return to game action.
Injury Prevention Resources
You can also find safety and injury prevention information from the following national organizations:
American Academy of Pediatrics
- The Injury Prevention Program (TIPP) is an educational tool for parents to help prevent common childhood injuries. Safety sheets are
available that discuss appropriate guidelines for each age group.
Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC)
The CDC has a variety of topics on injury and violence prevention. Each fact sheet describes who is at risk for various injuries and how to reduce that risk.
