08/02/2007
(Hartford, CT) Two Connecticut high school students were honored by Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center for their portrayals of what can happen if you drink and drive.
The contest was open to nearly 800 Connecticut high school students who took part in the Lets Not Meet By Accident� program during the last academic school year. Students were asked to produce a poem, dance, or movie about their experience.
Granby High School sophomore Brianne Dixon won first place for a DVD she produced entitled, Alcohol.� She received a check for $100 from Saint Francis.
Gilbert High School junior Lauren Howard of Winsted took second place honors and won $75 for writing a poem, My Lucky Mistake.�
Both students along with their classmates attended the youth violence prevention program as part of Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Centers community outreach initiative. Its a program where students participate in an interactive, hands-on experience that takes them into the Emergency Department Trauma Room where they witness a mock� emergency led by a trauma surgeon.
I tell these kids how it is, I dont tell fish stories. When I was a youth, I came face-to-face with danger after being shot. I was heading down a dangerous path before I found myself in medical school,� said Dr. Anthony Morgan, Chairman, Department of Surgery and Trauma-Critical Care at Saint Francis, and who leads the program. I want to show these kids that I am a living example, a product of the streets that you dont have to wind up dead or in jail. You really can �be somebody if you make the right choice in life,� added Morgan.
The idea behind this program is to teach children one of lifes most valuable lessons first hand: Making the �right choices in �risky situations,� said Marisol Feliciano, Director of the program.
It is a highly visual, hands-on experience, followed by a speaker whose life has been directly affected by a traumatic injury. The students are then debriefed, and participate in various exercises to help them make all the right choices,� added Feliciano.
Lets Not Meet By Accident� has been supported, in part, by a grant from the St. Paul Travelers Connecticut Foundation. Community and Foundation support of this kind will allow Saint Francis to continue to provide this vital and successful program �free to the community.
Since the program began over 15 years ago, over 16,000 students have participated in the mock drill. Lets Not Meet By Accident� is offered three times a month during the school year.
For more information about the Violence & Injury Prevention Program, please call (860) 714-5525.
Founded in 1897, Saint Francis is a major teaching hospital licensed for 617 acute inpatient beds and 65 bassinets and is the largest Catholic hospital in New England.
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