Photo: Contributed

Teens look on in trauma room

A trip to the hospital, a lifetime of pain, or even death sounds like anything but a party.

The P.A.R.T.Y. program is aimed at preventing alcohol and risk-related trauma in youth through awareness of personal choices, the consequences of injury, prevention initiatives and the reduction of risk-related trauma.

For the first time in Kelowna, the program is being offered to Grade 12 students, who were given the chance Thursday to meet professionals who deal with traumatic situations every day.

Board member Christine Kirby says the program shows teens the consequences of bad choices. Over the course of several days, students will be taken to Kelowna General Hospital and split into groups for sessions with police, firefighters, ER doctors and coroners.

The teens will see a simulated trauma room, the after-effects of a car crash, the inside of the morgue and what therapy is like after an accident.

“It is the whole process of a crash happening and then the process of what happens to you following that crash,” explains Kirby.

The emergency responders tell the students real-life stories of traumatic crashes, deaths and injuries.

Grade 12 student Sydney Fernley says she found the program informative.

“I just saw the motor vehicle accident, and it was scary to see that, but I think it is a good reminder to not text and drive and be really aware. We always need that extra reminder as students. We all just got our driver’s licence and we all just want to go drive and drive really fast, but we need that reminder."

Car crashes are the leading cause of unintentional injury and death across B.C. for all ages. According to statistics presented at the program, there are 1.2 fatalities and 18 hospitalizations daily in the province, with impaired and distracted driving accounting for most.