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The Neurosciences Center at Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin is proud to offer, at no charge, a school-based injury prevention program — ThinkFirst. This program is coordinated by the ThinkFirst National Injury Prevention Foundation and was developed by America’s Neurosurgeons.
ThinkFirst is designed to educate vulnerable young people about the dangers of risk-taking through an increased understanding of the causes and results of injuries to the brain and spinal cord.
Traumatic brain injuries are the leading cause of death and disability among our nation’s youth. Nearly 100,000 people die each year as a result of these tragedies. Of the survivors, more than 80,000 are left with permanent disabilities affecting speech, vision, movement, cognitive function and behavior.
Between 10,000 and 20,000 persons sustain a spinal cord injury in the United States each year. About one-half of these injuries result in quadriplegia (loss of movement in arms and legs), and one-half sustain paraplegia (loss of movement in legs).
The goal of the program is to convey a message to use your mind to protect your body. The program is available to middle school and high school, either in large assemblies or classroom formats. It is presented by healthcare providers who work with individuals with brain and/or spinal cord injuries. If available, a young person with this disability accompanies the speaker to the classroom and describes how the injury has changed his or her life. The presentation is 45 minutes to an hour and typically includes:
- A 15-minute award-winning film "On the Edge," which features honest and direct testimony from people living with brain and spinal cord injury and the choices they made leading up to their injury
- A discussion of the anatomy of the brain and spinal cord, how injuries to these parts of the body occur, the physical results of injury, and how these injuries can be prevented
- If your school is accessible, the presenter will be accompanied by a person who has sustained a brain or spinal cord injury to describe how his/her life has changed since the injury
- A brief discussion on proper bystander behavior at the scene of an injury resulting from, for example, diving or a motor vehicle crash
To schedule a presentation at your school, please call 414-805-3666 or 1-800-272-3666 (option 2).
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