VCU Project IMPACT Visits Local High Schools

By Cassie Williams Jones

The VCU Injury and Violence Prevention Program (IVPP) and the Division of Trauma, in conjunction with area high schools, are hosting the annual Project IMPACT program.

Project IMPACT – Impacting Minors Perceptions and Cognizant Attitudes towards Trauma – promotes injury and violence prevention through awareness and education within the school setting. Students participate in simulation activities and receive education on substance use, forensics and violence, and experience what a trauma patient endures once they sustain an injury.

The young participants engage with local fire and emergency medical service members, VCU LifeEvac helicopter operators and forensic and Surgical Trauma Intensive Care Unit (STICU) nurses. Students also have a chance to witness the extrication of a motor vehicle collision victim.

The VCU team visited J.R. Tucker High School in Henrico County on May 2. The team also visited Armstrong High School in Richmond and Central High School in Victoria, and it will be going to Cosby High School in Chesterfield County at the end of the month.

The VCU LifeEvac program, the university’s and health system’s helicopter transport program, serves the people of Central and Southside Virginia and portions of North Carolina 24 hours per day, seven days per week.  All flight crew members have a background in emergency medicine and critical care and have undergone intensive, specialized training to become flight team members.  

VCU’s IVPP is home to several violence prevention programs and uses ongoing education, research and community outreach to reduce and prevent injuries. It is housed in the Division of Trauma at the VCU Medical Center, Central Virginia’s only Level-1 Trauma Center and one of only two nationally recognized in the state.