Injury Prevention Corner

Live Your DREAMS: Reaching Out to San Jacinto College Students on Impaired and Distracted Driving

In October, a collaborative group of Memorial Hermann injury prevention champions joined Red Duke Trauma Institute at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center in a Live Your DREAMS outreach event to educate and engage San Jacinto College students about the dangers of impaired and distracted driving.

The site was the San Jacinto College South Campus, where exhibits, games and simulators were set up to attract students to participate. Memorial Hermann was invited to take part in this annual event by Mothers Against Drunk Driving Southeast Texas Region.

Students were encouraged to participate in interactive games to highlight the dangers of driving under the influence and distracted driving. For example, the “Distract-A-Match” game gave students a hands-on demonstration to exhibit the dangers of distracted driving, which can lead to serious injuries or death. Students were encouraged to discuss ways to prevent the distractions in the vehicle; those may include the phone, friends, family and the radio.

“This event brought together college students and our injury prevention champions who enjoyed spending quality time discussing the consequences and dangers that students may not be thinking about when they get behind the wheel,” said Sarah Beth Abbott, Injury Prevention and Outreach Education Coordinator at Red Duke Trauma Institute.

Memorial Hermann partnered with the Houston Fire Department to unveil the newest prevention tools - impaired driving simulators and virtual reality goggles - at the event. These tools are used all across Greater Houston by the Houston Fire Department and Memorial Hermann’s Live Your DREAM’s program.

Tone Your Bones Event Held at Local YMCA

A group of 60 people attended a “Tone Your Bones” screening event and seminar held at the Trotter Family YMCA in Houston to hear information on bone health and fall prevention from Red Duke Trauma Institute at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center and its partners from McGovern Medical School at UTHealth.

Working with UTHealth Wellness Center and UTOrthopedics Bone Health Clinic members, providers used calcaneal quantitative ultrasound machines to prescreen community members’ bone density.

“Our goal was to allow participants to learn if they might be at higher risk for osteoporosis or if they might need a formal evaluation by a health care provider,” said Christina Yazdani, Physician Assistant and Fragility Fracture Program Coordinator. If needed, participants were then provided information on how to follow up with clinicians.

The Trotter YMCA event also included physical therapists from Memorial Hermann Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation and TIRR Memorial Hermann, who screened participants for fall risk factors using a series of age-specific tests, including a fall risk self-assessment survey. About seven out of 10 people assessed for fall risk were older than 65, an age group with a generally greater likelihood of falls. Additionally, participants were invited to stay for presentations for more in-depth conversations on bone health, injury prevention and physical therapy. The day ended with a tai chi demonstration for all participants to partake in.