2000 celebration for PARTY program at at St John of God Midland Public and Private Hospitals
The injury prevention PARTY (Prevent Alcohol and Risk-Related Trauma in Youth) Program at St John of God Midland Public and Private Hospitals recently hit a milestone, with the 2000th student attending.
20 Oct 2021
The PARTY program was launched at the hospital in 2017 to help students aged 14 to 17 years learn about trauma and injury, and see first-hand the impact poor decision making can have on people’s lives.
St John of God Midland Public and Private Hospitals CEO Michael Hogan said the PARTY program focuses on helping young people in our community to stay safe and gives them the tools they need to make good choices and minimise their risk of being injured or experiencing trauma themselves.
“Despite interruptions by COVID restrictions, it has been fantastic to have more than 2000 local secondary students attend the PARTY program at our hospital over the past four years,” he said.
“Unfortunately too many young people are treated in an Emergency Department for injuries that have resulted from poor decisions and the PARTY program is a great initiative to prevent such injuries.”
Coordinated by the hospital’s Emergency Department, students are taken through the common causes of injury due to risk-taking behaviours and provided with insights into the consequences of traumatic injury.
During the visit, students hear presentations from St John Ambulance paramedics, Police officers, emergency and intensive care doctors and nurses, physiotherapists, rehabilitation therapists, drug and alcohol experts, brain and spinal cord injury survivors and hospital volunteers.
Mr Hogan said students are taught about the “ripple effect” of their decisions and how it not only affects them, but others around them, including their friends, families and future work prospects.
“Research shows that the program increases awareness on the consequences of undertaking risk-related behaviours,” he said.
“With about half of the participants learning to drive or holding a driver’s license and others close to learning to drive, the PARTY program is playing an important role in helping students understand the importance of injury prevention strategies.”
St John of God Midland Public and Private Hospitals is the second Perth metropolitan hospital to undertake the program, which is also run at Royal Perth Hospital. Established in Canada, the PARTY program is run by hospitals throughout the world.