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Mon Dec 3 23:24:26 GMT 2007

Dear William,
I don't envy your walk into the lion's den, but I hope that I might help just a little.
We have just completed a round of all our local Colleges and schools with a hard hitting road safety programme to 16-17yr olds!
Whilst not in the same league as gun-crime, the audience is still a very tough nut to crack with the typical disinterest and arrogance that you expect from elements of this age group.

In recent years we have taken a new approach. We have a series of hard-hitting TV safety adverts, which are not actually licenced for the UK (but we managed to get certain exemptions). These certainly catch the attention of the pupils and we then follow them up with a short presentation by a series of individuals involved with picking up the pieces (eg police, EMS, ER staff, critical care, disabled victims, and a victim's parents). Each individual relates a 'real' incident that they have attended to demonstrate that this a fictional representation. 

One interesting point is that whilst the adverts are very graphic, the real stories are often low on horror and high on emotional effects. (It is interesting to see how our colleagues who have seen all the gore imaginable are more affected by issues that they can relate to eg victims that are children or colleagues)

This might not sound much, but even our short lunchtime presentations dont leave a dry eye in the house......and that includes us!

I hope that this gives you a few thoughts....a mix of hard hitting videos mixed with some real anecdotes.

Regards
Mark F
ATACC MD
Cheshire Fire & Rescue Service
UK

----- Original Message ----
From: William Bromberg <brombwi1 at memorialhealth.com>
To: "Trauma & Critical Care mailing list" <trauma-list at trauma.org>
Sent: Monday, 3 December, 2007 10:02:21 PM
Subject: I need HELP — Gun Safety Presentation

Hey everyone, I need some advice. As the most junior guy not working
this week I "volunteered" to give a presentation on Firearm Safety to a
local high school assembly of juniors and seniors (16-18 years old). The
school is in "inner-city" Savannah (I can hear Dr Mattox laughing
already about inner city Savannah).

Here's my problem — I don't know where to go with the presentation. 

Furthermore the kids are too old for the "Eddie the Eagle" type
presentation — i.e.
STOP!
Don’t Touch
Leave the Area
Tell an Adult

And the type of gun injury they are exposed to is not of the "whoops I
didn't know it was loaded" failure to follow the four rules of safety
(i.e. 1. Treat ALL guns as if they are loaded. 2. Always keep a firearm
pointed in a safe direction. 3. Keep your finger off the trigger until
you are ready to shoot. 4. Be sure of your target. Know what it is, what
is in line with it and what is behind it. ) type.

Does anyone have any suggestions/experience with anything like this?

Thanks in advance for your help. I have the awful feeling they're going
to eat me alive.

Bill Bromberg

William J. Bromberg, MD, FACS
Chair, EAST Practice Management Guidelines Committee
Savannah Surgical Group
912 350-7412
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Re: I need HELP — Gun Safety Presentation