Menu

MDCot Blog

Impaired and Drunk Driving Resources

Impaired and Drunk Driving Resources

mdcot-resource-march2021

Impaired and Drunk Driving Resources

The number of crashes due to impaired and drunk driving always increases during holidays and long weekends. There are so many ways to get a safe and sober ride home these days, there’s really no excuse.

Spread the word to your community and social media followers about their options. Encourage rideshares, cabs, or even offer to give people a safe ride home!

SPIDRE (state police impaired driving reduction effort) will be in place to keep the roadways safe, too. Don’t get caught in their web.

Be the Driver — Who Saves Lives

For the first time ever, the Maryland Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration’s (MDOT MVA) Highway Safety Office is launching an all-encompassing highway safety campaign focused on safe driving behaviors, aptly named Be the Driver. 

The animated campaign depicts common situations that drivers, riders, and pedestrians often face and illustrates each road users’ personal responsibility. The ads will be featured year-round on local television, streaming music platforms, billboards, social media, and digital advertisement and be coupled with enforcement waves from state and local law enforcement agencies as part of a high visibility highway safety effort.

Partnership for Safer Maryland

Partnership for Safer Maryland

partnership-safe-maryland

Please see the information below from PSM partners on upcoming webinars, legislation, and relevant information you should know advocating injury and violence prevention.

The Maryland Patient Safety Center is working to improve vaccine acceptance among healthcare workers and communities of color. 

In partnership with the Maryland Hospital Association and Dr. Nicole Rochester, CEO of Your GPS Doc, LLC.

MPSC is focused on addressing the systemic racism and the healthcare disparities that have led to the current state of medical mistrust among minority communities and a hesitancy to accept the COVID-19 vaccine. 

On February 15th, MPSC President and CEO, Dr. Blair Eig and Dr. Nicole Rochester were interviewed on Maryland Public Television’s Direct Connection to discuss our recent outreach efforts related to vaccine acceptance and the work we will continue doing to combat healthcare inequities. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has advice on how to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning.

How to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning while staying warm

  • Do not run generators inside. Keep them outdoors and at least 20 feet away from the home.
  • Do not run a car inside a closed garage.
  • Do not use a gas oven to heat a home.
  • Do not burn anything in a stove or fireplace that is not vented.
  • Install a battery-operated carbon monoxide detector.
  • Have heating systems, water heaters, and another other appliances that operate on gas, oil or coal serviced once a year.

From The Maryland Department of Transportation MVA

Maryland Distracted Driving Virtual Summit
April 2021

The Maryland Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration’s (MDOT MVA) Highway Safety Office, in partnership with DRIVE SMART Virginia, is excited to announce the first ever Maryland Distracted Driving Virtual Summit, to be held in April!

This virtual Summit is comprised of a series of 18 webinars, and each will require a separate registration. Speakers from across the country will be sharing their expertise in four different education tracks, including law enforcement, research/data, corporate/community strategies, and focused populations. 

Visit www.MarylandDDSummit.org for more information on webinar topics and speakers. We anticipate registration to go live soon. Stay tuned!  

Legal Resource Center for Public Health Policy

Please find the Legal Resource Center’s legislative tracking chart attached to this email. Our tracking document can also be viewed in real time HERE.

If interested in learning more about the legislative process or to participate in bi-weekly legislative updates contact Blair Inniss at: binniss@law.umaryland.edu

#911Day #STOPTHEBLEED

#911Day #STOPTHEBLEED

 

Tomorrow, on the anniversary of 9/11, we encourage you to honor the victims and emergency responders by doing a good deed. As an act of service to yourself and those around you, learn how to #STOPTHEBLEED.

You could save a life.

Learn more: https://www.stopthebleed.org/ #911Day

Vice Chair, Maryland Committee on Trauma

Written By: Habeeba Park, MD, FACS

Vice Chair, Maryland Committee on Trauma
The Maryland EMS System

The Maryland EMS System

The Maryland EMS System

Recognizing the need for improved emergency medical services, Dr. R Adams Cowley opened the first Maryland Trauma Center in 1969 at the University of Maryland Hospital. Through Dr. Cowley’s vision and leadership, the Emergency Medical Services Systems Act of 1972 spurred the creation of the EMS/Trauma System in Maryland.

The move was part of a broader national effort of trauma system development driven by a 1966 white paper entitled “Accidental Death and Disability: The Neglected Disease of Modern Society”, in which the National Academy of Sciences identified several needs for the improvement of EMS/trauma care – needs which continue to inform today’s optimal trauma care:

  • Training for Emergency Medical Service (EMS) personnel and lay public
  • Standards for ambulance services
  • Communications between ambulances and Emergency Departments (EDs)
  • ED and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) accessibility (24 hours)
  • Mechanism for categorization of EDs
  • Development of trauma registries
  • Formation of hospital trauma committees
  • Studies on trauma rehabilitation
  • Replace lay coroners with medical examiners
  • Autopsy of injured victims
  • Multiple casualty disaster plans
  • Research in trauma

Research shows that states with trauma systems in place see drastically reduced death rates. Today, Dr. Cowley’s single two-bed trauma center has grown into a statewide network of nine (9) adult trauma centers and two (2) pediatric trauma centers, which, through the integration of EMS, trauma care, rehabilitation, and injury prevention, focus on the expeditious care of patients and the preservation of life and limb whenever possible.

Comprised of five regions across the state, the Maryland EMS System includes both volunteer and career EMS clinicians, medical and nursing personnel, communication, transportation systems, trauma and specialty care centers, and emergency departments. Eighty-five percent (85%) of injured patients are taken to the nearest hospital emergency department (ED); 48 hospitals maintain EDs which are staffed around the clock and equipped to handle most emergency medical problems. The remaining 15% of injured patients are treated at the state’s designated trauma centers, which provide advanced medical and surgical services 24 hours a day.

Completing the spectrum of patient care is rehabilitation, which starts as early as possible in the recovery process. Many patients who need extended occupational, physical, and speech therapies are transferred to rehabilitation hospitals to continue their recovery.

Management and Oversight of the Maryland EMS System

he Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS) oversees and coordinates all components of the statewide EMS system in accordance with Maryland statute and regulation. These efforts include planning, operations, evaluation, and research. MIEMSS also provides leadership and medical direction; conducts and supports EMS educational programs; operates and maintains a statewide communications system; designates trauma and specialty centers; licenses and regulates commercial ambulance services; and participates in EMS-related public education and prevention programs.

Since becoming an independent state agency in 1993, MIEMSS has worked to formalize, through statute and regulation, the administration, regulation, and operation of the Maryland EMS System. Statutory oversight authority rests with the 11-member, Governor-appointed EMS Board, while MIEMSS’ Executive Director is statutorily responsible for coordination of all aspects and components of the system. The Statewide EMS Advisory Council (SEMSAC), comprised of representatives from organizations involved in providing emergency care services, also advises and assists the EMS Board.

MIEMSS is organized into departments that reflect the structure necessary to coordinate the statewide EMS system, including:

  • Maintained by MIEMSS, the EMS Communication System – one of the first such statewide systems in the country – integrates the entire EMS system in Maryland. Utilizing radio and microwave technology, the statewide communication system links ambulances, helicopters, and hospitals and allows communication between system components at any time; for example, a paramedic on-scene with a patient in Western Maryland can speak directly with a local emergency department physician or, if needed, obtain medical consultation from a specialty center in Baltimore. All local 9-1-1 centers are staffed with emergency medical dispatchers (EMDs) certified by MIEMSS.
  • The Emergency Medical Resources Center (EMRC) coordinates medical consultation between medic units and hospital physicians. Medic units requesting a medical consultation can call EMRC, whose operators patch them through to a receiving hospital. While en route to the receiving hospital, prehospital clinicians transmit patient information to an on-line hospital physician, who may direct the prehospital clinician to follow specific medical protocols and may approve additional treatment.
  • Located within the same communications facility, System Communication Center (SYSCOM) operators work with a Maryland State Police (MSP) Duty Officer to dispatch and coordinate all MSP medevac missions. With its fleet of 10 helicopters based in seven sections across the state, the MSP Aviation Division transports over 1,800 critically injured or ill patients each year.

For more information about MIEMSS, please visit www.MIEMSS.org. 

Written By: Carole A. Mays RN, MS Director

Trauma & Injury Specialty Care Program MIEMSS

Fireworks Safety

Fireworks Safety

Fireworks Safety

Did you know that in the United States, more than 3,000 children, under the age of 15, are rushed to the emergency room each year due to firework related injuries? Over 85% of firework injuries occur between the months of June and July.

It’s that time of year, where families and friends are getting together to have picnics, bonfires, and celebrations. What’s a celebration without fireworks! The best way to enjoy fireworks is to leave it to the experts and attend a public display.

If you choose to have fireworks for your celebration, follow these tips:

    • Never allow young children to handle them. Even sparklers can burn up to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit!
    • Older children should be under close adult supervision when using fireworks.
    • Adults should never use fireworks while impaired or intoxicated.
    • Wear protective eyewear when lighting fireworks.
    • Keep fireworks away from people, houses, and flammable materials.
    • Never point or throw fireworks at a person.
    • Only light one firework at a time.
    • Do not try to re-light a malfunctioning firework.
    • Keep a bucket of water nearby, just in case.
    • Only buy legal fireworks, never try to make your own.
    • Think about your pets… pets have sensitive ears and can be very frightened or stressed when hearing fireworks.

Instead of purchasing fireworks, think of alternative ways to celebrate, for example, using glow sticks, streamers, confetti poppers, silly string, etc. You can still celebrate, just in a safer way!

Nearly 22% of firework injuries involve the eyes. If an eye injury does happen, cut out the bottom of a paper cup, place it around, the eye, and seek medical attention. Do not touch or rub your eye, and do not flush eye out with water.

What to do if you or your child get burned?

  1. Remove clothing and jewelry from the burned area.
  2. Run cool water over the burn.
  3. Loosely cover with gauze or clean dry cloth.
  4. Seek medical attention.

On this 4th of July, make it a safe one!

For more tips and information, visit www.safekids.org or www.nsc.org.

Follow the Johns Hopkins Pediatric Injury Prevention Program on Twitter @JHCCTraumaBurn.

Senior Injury Prevention Coordinator & Creason Schafer, Community Outreach Specialist | Johns Hopkins Children’s Center

Written By: Beatrice Brathwaite

Senior Injury Prevention Coordinator & Creason Schafer, Community Outreach Specialist | Johns Hopkins Children’s Center
Trauma Awareness Month: Thoughts from the Child of a Trauma Surgeon

Trauma Awareness Month: Thoughts from the Child of a Trauma Surgeon

Trauma Awareness Month: Thoughts from the Child of a Trauma Surgeon

For kids like me, trauma prevention seems like common sense. ‘Wear a seatbelt.’ ‘Don’t text and drive.’ ‘Wear a helmet.’ It seems obvious. Why wouldn’t someone take such simple preventative measures? It’s minimal effort, and the benefits can be major, even life-saving. To me, simple actions like wearing a seatbelt are second nature. But that’s not the case for everyone. Most kids don’t grow up hearing stories of the catastrophic results of not taking these steps. I see the benefits clearly, but not everyone does. It’s hard for me to understand why someone would choose not to wear a seatbelt, but they don’t have the background (or the trauma surgeon father) I do. 

I’m not going to deny that there are times injury prevention can be annoying. I distinctly remember a certain visit to a roller skating rink. Being the only kid with a helmet on would have been fine, but add in the knee pads, elbow pads, and wrist guards that my dad insisted on, and I felt ridiculous. (To his credit, I will note that I was a particularly accident prone kid, but at the time, it was embarrassing.) Some injury prevention feels excessive, and though I know the benefits, there are times when I wonder if the embarrassment is worth the potential protective benefit.

There are some rare things that I believe should stay that way, but there are also many that I think should become far more commonplace than they are today. Sometimes, I notice things and can’t believe that everyone hasn’t adopted them. One example is STOP THE BLEED. I have taken the course and helped my father teach it to students at my school and other locations around Baltimore City. A simple class that teaches anyone to save lives in a crisis, I don’t know why it’s not on its way to become just as normalized as CPR. STOP THE BLEED can be a tool to save lives, but we need to equip more people with that knowledge.In many ways, I am the last person Trauma Awareness Month wants to reach. In my house, every month is trauma awareness month. Instead, May is a month dedicated to reaching more of the general public without connections to trauma. It’s a time to emphasize the potential life-saving impacts of preventative measures, helping everyone see the benefits of making safe choices throughout their lives. In the words of my 10-year old brother Fletcher, “everyone knows not to do stupid stuff, but they don’t know what stupid stuff is.” Trauma Awareness Month is the time to teach people what the smart choices are. 

Written By: Arenal Haut

Written By: Arenal Haut

EMS Week Recognition

EMS Week Recognition

EMS Week 2020: May 17 – 23

I can’t share only one specific experience to highlight our EMS providers and their awesome skills, because there are just too many to count! With my interest and work with the Stop the Bleed program, their quick action and enthusiasm with hemorrhage control skills really highlight their effectiveness in patient outcomes.  Honestly, the program would not be as successful as it has become without their wholehearted support.  But beyond Stop the Bleed, their ability to utilize such a vast array of clinical tools for every clinical situation never fails to amaze me.

We are always proud and honored to work with our EMS clinician partners in the field and in the hospital setting, where their work at the front and foremost has the greatest impact on saving lives.

Vice Chair, Maryland Committee on Trauma

Written By: Habeeba Park, MD, FACS

Vice Chair, Maryland Committee on Trauma
Distracted Driving Awareness

Distracted Driving Awareness

Distracted Driving Awareness – April 8, 2020

What do eating. drinking. changing the radio station. talking on your cell phone, and texting have in common? If done in a moving vehicle. they are all forms of distracted driving and can lead to serious consequences. Distracted driving is anything that takes your hands, eyes. or mind off of the road. NHTSA estimates that 1 in 10 fatal crashes in 2015 were related to distracted driving. And AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that driver distraction is responsible for more than 58% of teen crashes. Yet we don’t take this seriously enough! So how do we fix it?

First, keep our eyes on the road, and our hands on the wheel. Put your phone away. Silence it or turn on the “Do Not Disturb While Driving” feature before you begin your journey or let someone else do the texting. Don’t look at maps and directions while driving. Avoid eating and drinking in the car. Don’t adjust the audio or climate controls. When we engage in distracted driving. we put innocent lives at risk. including our own. It only takes seconds to be involved in a fatal crash, but it can bring a lifetime of pain and suffering. Be alert to the danger. Raise awareness. And don’t take the risk!

Maryland Trauma Centers, TraumaNet and AT&T are partnering together and have declared April 8th as Distracted Awareness Day. For more information and distracted driving events near you, contact your local trauma center or click the links below. Thank you and drive safe!

MDCOT Member

Written By: Kathy Noll, MSN, TCRN

MDCOT Member