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| Vol. 21, No. 23 |
| December 15, 1999 |
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August 1991 by ROSANNE CLARK Texas Medical Center News When Dr. James H. "Red" Duke was a small boy, the term "safety" wasn't something he just naturally took for granted. It was drilled into him constantly by his father, who worked in the often dangerous natural gas industry. That same concern for safety prompted Dr. Duke to join with the Harris County Medical Society on July 1 to launch "Stop the Bleeding," an extensive, county-wide community education program designed to reduce the number of serious injuries and deaths due to serious bodily injury, or trauma. According to Dr. Arthur Jansa, president of the Harris County Medical Society, the incidence of serious injury is 67 percent higher in Harris County than the national average, and deaths due to trauma are 51 percent higher than predicted for an urban area in Texas. In 1990, trauma claimed more than 1,900 lives in Harris County; and more than 8,400 persons sustained serious injury. In Texas, as in the nation, serious injury or trauma is the leading cause of death for persons age 1 to 44, and the leading cause of premature death in all age groups. Each year in Texas, nearly 300,000 potential years of life are lost due to injury. The economic impact of serious injury is just as staggering. In Harris County alone, the annual loss of future earnings due to premature death from trauma is $805 million; and the total annual economic impact on Harris County due to trauma injury is $2.3 billion. Nationwide, the economic impact totals $188 billion. Locally, the direct cost of hospitalization and treatment for the seriously injured totals about $152 million. The campaign calls upon the local media to use public service announcements, video documentaries, talk shows and feature articles to reach the general public with the injury prevention message. In addition, a special injury prevention documentary will be produced for use in safety education programs for traffic law offenders. For school age children, a focused and professional design program is planned using instructional video and printed classroom materials. The videotapes will also be produced in Spanish. Lending their support to the campaign are Mayor Kathy Whitmire, County Judge Jon Lindsay and Sheriff Johnny Klevenhagen.
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