Medical and health care providers (emergency department professionals, emergency medical technicians, nurses, physicians, etc.) are on the front lines and are routinely confronted with the consequences of impaired driving. Taking care of the injured after a crash has occurred makes healthcare providers very credible spokespersons in your community.

Partnering with medical and health care providers is a natural choice. Most medical and health care professionals choose the field because they care about saving lives and preventing injuries. They care about people and their community. They want to remove impaired drivers from the roadways to help prevent another victim from being brought into the emergency department or morgue. As a member of the community, they want to do their part to create a safe community for everyone. Consider the following ideas as you begin planning 3D Prevention Month and year-round events.

Ideas for 3D Prevention Month Activities

• Take the lead in a community-wide public information effort about the impaired driving problem, especially around the holidays. Include information about existing state impaired driving laws (i.e., zero tolerance and .08) or the need to enact these laws. Coordinate with community leaders and the media to conduct public information activities throughout the month.

• Conduct a press conference at your local hospital with community leaders, police, traffic engineers, firefighters, school officials, hospital administrators, legislators, doctors, nurses, and emergency medical technicians about the impaired driving problem and the need for strong legislation, active enforcement, and constant public information. Display an ambulance in front of the emergency department as a focal point. Use the theme Crashes Aren’t Accidents; They Are Predictable and Preventable.

• Hang a banner outside your emergency department announcing 3D Prevention Month with a reminder for people to not drive impaired.

• Develop or participate in a speakers’ bureau consisting of victims, public health professionals, emergency medical services, law enforcement professionals, and emergency physicians and nurses to speak at school assemblies and business and community meetings to explain the human and economic toll of the impaired driving problem.

• Conduct tours of the emergency department for students and other groups.

Year-Round Activities

• Review emergency department and other patient data files to determine the number of individuals you see on an annual basis due to impaired driving-related motor vehicle crashes. Collaborate with other segments of the community (emergency department, law enforcement, emergency medical services, and others) to develop a profile of these individuals; determine costs to the emergency department, insurers, and others; and identify the various outcomes these patients have. Share this information with others in the community, and in conjunction with others, use it to start an on-going impaired driving prevention program in your community or possibly even a Safe Communities program.

• Actively support the enactment and enforcement of impaired driving legislation including .08 per se and zero tolerance. Collaborate with others such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), Remove Intoxicated Drivers (RID), and Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) in support of these issues.

• Publicize the existence, meaning, and importance of impaired driving laws to colleagues, partners, the community, and patients.

• Routinely assess patients for alcohol abuse problems, and refer them for appropriate treatment.

• Develop and enforce impaired driving policies for your organization.

• Educate your professional association(s) and state chapters about the impaired driving problem and encourage them to adopt policies and resolutions in support of impaired driving legislation and enforcement.

• Collaborate with other segments of the community on specific activities. For example, in partnership with the local Parent Teacher Association (PTA), sponsor the development of an impaired driving video by junior high school students. Or, at the beginning of the school year, allow high school students to interview emergency department staff and write an essay on impaired driving.

Successful Program: Davis, California

Emergency Nurses CARE
Emergency Nurses CARE (a national organization of volunteer emergency nurses whose message to high school students is “don’t drink and drive; always wear your safety belt”) has been very active in Davis High School since 1994.

After a troubling Homecoming in 1996 (several students were suspended for drinking on school grounds), a volunteer member of the organization made a presentation to the PTA after advertising the program in the local newspaper. A reporter attended and wrote a 2-page article that was featured in the next day’s paper. With support from the PTA and local businesses, the volunteer embarked on a Tuxedo Stuffer idea for the junior prom.

A Davis stationery store donated fluorescent paper, and Kinko’s Copies copied, cut, and bundled 1 by 8 inch strips with the message, “The Junior Prom is a very special event. Make it a safe and happy one. Don’t drink and drive; wear your safety belt. Emergency Nurses CARE.”

Parent volunteers delivered the brightly colored message strips to tuxedo and flower shops, and they were placed in tuxedo pockets and corsage/boutonniere boxes.

After the Tuxedo Stuffer program implementation, the 1996 prom statistics showed that with 500 students attending, there was only 1 suspension, and students reported that they had attended alcohol-free parties.

The Davis member of Emergency Nurses CARE reported her success to other volunteers in the California CAREs newsletter. The program spread to other areas of the state, and three chapters noted successful Tuxedo Stuffer programs. One volunteer, after presenting the Dare To CARE program to a high school, received a thank you note from a student, that stated, “Coincidentally, I went to the prom this year and found one of your cards inside the box for the boutonniere.”

California Emergency Nurses CARE, in cooperation with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Subaru via the Crash Course, will have 10,000 stuffers for use throughout the state. This year, because of collaboration of Emergency Nurses CARE volunteers and their communities, thousands of California students will see the message “Don’t drink and drive; wear your safety belt” as they get ready to attend their junior prom.

For more information on this program, contact:

Priscilla H. Ivler

1114 Petra Court

Davis, CA 95616

Phone: (530) 759-2038

Successful Program: Toledo, Ohio

Toledo Hospital’s Holly Nog Mix Off
The Department of Trauma Services at Toledo Hospital turned alcohol education into a festive contest during their third annual Holly Nog Mix Off. Each employee of the Promedica Healthcare System was invited to submit his or her favorite non-alcoholic holiday punch recipe. Three recipes were drawn at random and prepared for employees to sample during their lunch hour. Employees voted for their favorite. The winner of the Mix Off received dinner for four on New Year’s Eve at a local fine restaurant.

All participants received information about the effects of impaired driving and copies of the non-alcoholic recipes. This contest has become an “anticipated event” during the holiday season. The winning recipe is served at various personnel functions throughout the holiday season.

For more information, contact:

Lynn Alvanos, RN

Trauma Care Manager

Toledo Hospital

Department of Trauma Services

2142 North Cove Boulevard

Toledo, OH 43606

Phone: (419) 471-4643

Successful Program: Chattanooga, Tennessee

How To Host a Holiday Party
The Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department organized numerous events and activities to decrease the incidence of impaired driving in December. Among them was a public awareness program called How To Host a Holiday Party. Several different programs were held to demonstrate the dangers of impaired driving and ways to host a party responsibly. The department used a slide presentation, video, personal testimony, coalition speakers, and a demonstration of “Fatal Vision” goggles to reach more than 400 adults. The news coverage of the program was enhanced by on-air preparation of alcohol-free drinks. Hundreds of viewers called the Health Department to get Tips on Hosting a Party, a 4-page publication with tips as well as food and drink recipes. Chattanooga and Hamilton Counties were rewarded for the efforts of their combined health departments: the area experienced a 50 percent reduction in driving under the influence (DUI) arrests from December 1996 statistics and reported no alcohol-related fatalities.

For more information, contact:

Lisa King

Public Health Educator

The Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department

921 East 3rd Street

Chattanooga, TN 37403

Phone: (423) 209-8204