The Georgia Trauma Foundation and the Georgia Society of the American College of Surgeons hosted their annual meeting on Trauma Awareness Day at the Georgia Capitol on February 20th, 2020. The focus of the event was to showcase injury prevention efforts across the state, in addition to advocating for injury prevention with state legislators.
Safe Kids Georgia, along with other injury prevention organizations were brought together to showcase their efforts on injury prevention. Speakers included Dr. John Bleacher, Medical Director of Trauma Services at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta – Scottish Rite, as well as Lisa Dawson, Director of the Office of Injury Prevention with the Georgia Department of Public Health.
“We need partnerships in injury prevention like the ones here today.”
– Lisa Dawson, Director of Office of Injury Prevention, Georgia Department of Public Health
Jesse Gibson is the Trauma Program Manager at Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville, which is also the lead agency for Safe Kids Northeast Georgia. She spoke to the importance of the network of trauma care in Georgia while introducing John Mott, survivor of a head-on collision last April. “We each need to know our role in the trauma system,” Jessie said, while speaking on the relationship between Northeast Georgia Medical Center, where John was initially treated, and Shepherd Center, where he continued his rehabilitation.
Attendees were able to hear from John and his mother, Mary, about his experience recovering from the collision. He described waking up in a hospital bed weeks after the accident and the grueling recovery process, including his gratitude to Shepherd Center for helping him get back to a new normal. “Shepherd is amazing. I got to walk at my high school graduation because they worked with me,” he told us.
To learn more about the event and the great work at Georgia Trauma Foundation visit: http://georgiatraumafoundation.org
This post was prepared by Safe Kids Georgia Intern, Sarah Barkley.
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