Alcohol-related Motor Vehicle Trafic Crashed - Essay Example

Alcohol-related motor vehicle traffic crashes Introduction Drunk drivers normally cause many road accidents around the world. These people drive under the influence of alcohol that impairs their judgment. Even though some governments have put initiatives like the use of Alco-blows, the accident cases are still on the rise. The most notorious people are private car owners who have a surplus of income that they can spend on alcohol. Therefore, the community has the responsibility to help in the fight against this road carnage. This research paper studies Miami De County population, their drinking habits and the measures a nurse can take to reduce alcohol-related car accidents. In the end, the paper provides solutions or measures that a nurse can use to reduce the alcohol related car accidents. Accident situations are reduced in the United States yet Miami County still stays as the most dangerous places to commute in. This paper gives a detailed research on the topic, represents the findings and recommends the best ways a nurse can use to reduce the accident statistics. Population facts about Miami De County The county’s population is estimated to be 2.56 million (cited in SAMHSA 45). This is a statistic given as April 1 2011. It has increased from 2.5 million in the year 2010 in the same month. This has made the county to rest in the seventh place, to surpass Kings County of New York (cited in SAMHSA 45). This body uses computer programs that can analyze a decade old demographic data. It has proved fruitful in projecting the populations of about 131 largest counties in the United States. The Miami De County became number one in the Sunshine State (cited in SAMHSA 45). From these statistics, the county is really in need of interventions to help the existing strategies put in place to reduce road accidents. The police have also identified alcohol as one of the major causes of these car crashes. Statistics also implicate the failure of university education in the county to enlighten students about the life situations like alcohol problems and drug abuse. The history of accident statistics Since the year 2010, the county has been experiencing a trendy statistic in the number of accidents that have since occurred. It has been decreasing owing to the efforts by patrol police who have worked hard to bring sanity. From 2009, the police have seen the number of death toll from university students. This made the Florida Highway Patrol to provide the names of all the students that have lost their lives in such bizarre incidents. Sixty percent of these deaths were caused by drunk driving (cited in SAMHSA 45). However, the police and hospitals have noted with concern the influence of other substances that the students use alongside alcohol. Students consume alcohol alongside marijuana thus putting them to extreme risks. SAMHSA (substance abuse and mental health services administration in their report, gives the names of students who have lost their lives in the since 2009. A good number comes from the University of Florida that is situated in the Miami De County (cited in SAMHSA 47). These statistics can be compared to the recent trends as from the year 2012. In the year 2013, a 30-year-old was sent to hospital (cited in SAMHSA 45). Officers found out that he was driving while drunk. In the year 2010, approximately 2,220 people were convicted of drunk driving. They were irresponsible enough, putting their lives and that of passengers at risk. According to high department, they recorded close to 228, 000-accident cases in the year 2011. Of these accidents, 108,000 were alcohol induced. Fatal accidents were 850 with 900 casualties. Statistics also show that many students have fallen victims of drunk driving. Most of them are from the Universities and the University of Florida is mostly affected. These students live the high life, go to parties, get drunk and choose to drive themselves. It is so painful to see the large list at the high department, which states that all of these students died because of alcohol-related accidents. From the statistics, it can be noted that the recent trends are worrying. The numbers are growing from the previous statistics. The worrying trend is of young students who are engaging in driving under the influence of intoxicants like alcohol. The drinking habit in Miami De County Drinking in Miami is associated with university students. They are recently in the spotlight again for their ugly drinking behaviors. The police department has been recording an increase in the underage arrests due to drinking. In the year 2010, 102 arrests were recorded since from the month of August to October. The students aged teenagers of around 18 olds. The editorial board of The Miami Student is upset about the statistics (cited in SAMHSA 2013, p. 56). The university is a place of higher learning that should produce responsible students. They should make very responsible decisions regarding alcohol consumption. After partying and the drinking, they drive themselves home. It is so painful to find out that the highway department records a high number of these university students on the alcohol-related accident death list. The community in general is not left out in the drinking spree. The county records many alcohol cases during the spring and the relevant authorities should be weary of the situation. To stop or prevent alcohol related accidents, the government and the County must collectively fight alcoholism. Performance of nurses in accident prevention The awareness of the health nurses interventions on accident prevention is still low. However, they can improve it and get involved. If statistics are to go by, many health practitioners do not prioritize accident prevention. This is comparable to other health care activities which nurses give their undivided attention. Alcohol is a health issue, which the medical department should not ignore. They are trained to dig into the health and social effects of alcohol. One of the social effects of alcohol is road accidents. Surveys also show that nurses have varying trends on how they view their accident prevention roles and the time spent in advising the victims. It is evident that the health personnel are knowledgeable on how to prevent accidents. However, the nurses have put little effort in helping the society deal with road kills. This research paper recommends ways and intervention levels that nurses can incorporate to help reduce alcohol-related accidents Measures that nurses can use to prevent alcohol-related accidents Researches have indicated that accidents are the main causes of disabilities and deaths. The government health spends billions of dollars each year in treating these injuries. Most of these accidents lead to death. The nurses are the ones who receive these cases and can devise ways and methods of reducing such cases. These professionals are in direct contact with the accident patients and can be instrumental in the fight against alcohol-related accidents. They deal with the health and know substances that are good for the body and those that are toxic. A nurse is therefore in the position to advise the patients or survivors of these tragic road accidents on the need to stop alcohol or drink responsibly. In many countries, accident prevention is one of the priorities that saving live initiatives incorporate. It is also regarded as a vital part of promoting health. Nurses form part of this initiative and this paper comprehensively discusses how nurses can prevent alcohol induced accidents. Reducing alcohol consumption rate is a primary prevention method. Secondary prevention involves the health officials reducing severity of injuries, which nurses take part in. On the other hand tertiary prevention involves maximum treatment. In this stage, the nurses also rehabilitate the victims through first aid and hospital care. Nurses are trained personnel who help patients overcome the accident situations. In case, the victim dies of the injury, the nurse can use this opportunity to counsel the bereaved family. Health officials receive psychological training and they can counsel the victims. If a nurse takes the psychologist point of view, it can be the beginning of providing remedies to drunk driving. They have all the information about the patient and can interrogate them on what transpired before the accident. Therefore, nurses can work closely with the police to dig into the problem of drunk driving because they have firsthand information from the patient. Their first step is to provide accident prevention strategies to the police. The nurses can provide advice to the patients. They are in a position to determine risks and can advise the patients accordingly. They can advise patients to keep chemicals out of reach. Chemicals include alcohol and other substances. Medical professionals can use their influence to state the effects of alcohol consumption. Alcohol is harmful to health and can lead to liver cirrhosis. The pictures should be printed on the hospital walls, showing how alcohol affects this organ. Most important, the nurse should advise the patient on the impairment of judgment associated with alcohol consumption. The patient should be able to leave the hospital a changed person who advises against alcohol consumption. While giving the advice, the death toll from alcohol related accidents is a proper tool to use in driving the point home. The nurse can give examples of many people who have died as a result driving under the influence of alcohol. It helps to make the situation real to the patient. Accident surveillance Health officials and organizations are in a position of monitoring the injury rates. They should therefore report these preventable accidents. By reporting the cases, the nurses are providing incentives to the police to develop strategies on how to prevent such incidents. Health professionals not only report the rates to the relevant authorities but also should be also provide remedies to road carnages. They can use their influence to encourage responsible drinking among the nation. A nurse working in Miami De County should work closely with the highway patrol in developing accident prevention strategies. After determining the trends, they can also take part in training and education that the police have been doing through the media and community centers. Nurses are community service persons should serve the community and should provide solutions facing the society. Nurses should be able to advise the public and patients that alcohol reduces their reaction times, reduce their concentration and coordination. This should be done on the training programs they take attend. Statistics show that one every six dies in road accident and at least one drive is found to drink above the drive limits. The nurses can help government, especially the legal system, in determining legal limits for alcohol consumption. The standard legal driving limit is “35 ?g alcohols per 100 ml of breath or 80 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood” (cited in SAMHSA 50). Drivers get impaired when alcohol in blood reaches “50 mg/100 ml level” (cited in SAMHSA 51). They should not drink above these limits. Medical practitioners like the nurses should out extensive research and develop devices that can test legal driving limits of alcohol. They can work with the technological departments to embrace new technology in developing devices that can help the police determine alcoholic contents in the drivers’ blood. Nurses should also work with alcoholic beverage companies in promoting responsible drinking among the drivers. Nurses know that it becomes difficult for a drinker to estimate the amount of alcohol he or she has taken. This is because drinks have different strengths and sizes. They should help manufacturers in responsible marketing of these beverages. A good marketing or advertisement must state the limits that medical departments recommend and caution against the habit of drinking and driving. The medical departments have found out that alcohol absorption speed vary with age, gender and weight. Same amount gives varying alcohol levels within these groups of people. After carrying such extensive, nurses recommend that people should not drink while driving. They should also give special attention to accidents caused by students who are drinking. Nurses should also help in designing healthy public policies. These policies help in ensuring that the environments are enjoyable and safe. The alcohol problem is being associated with the young but the community should take a collective responsibility. We live in a society where alcohol from part of people’s lives. In this context, Miami De County has been recording a large number of young alcoholics especially the university students. The result is grisly road accidents by drunk drivers. Alcohol forms almost a third of road accidents in this county. The county government t should work closely with alcohol advertisers who have painted the good pictures of these beverages. Nurses facilitate interaction among teachers, parents and local government. This helps the groups to exchange ideas and adopt strategies that focus on reducing alcohol-related harm to the community. They can establish and encourage primary care Corporation that improves the health of the young and adolescents. This is a focus group in this county because they are the worst hit by alcoholic-related accidents. The nursing community is a group that the society emulates and they can use this influence to reduce the road accidents. Nurses can work also with the media in the fight against road carnage. They can achieve it through television advertisements, newspapers and printing of journal articles. The articles about the dangers of drunk driving can be a tool when targeted in media that most people visit. The nurses can also book televisions sessions where they directly engage the public in alcohol debates. Through these television lessons, they can use videos, charts that show continuing effects of alcohol and how it leads road accidents. Social media and blogs are good target sites for the nurses to spread their information. People frequently visit them across all the generations. Nurses can create Facebook groups, twitter handles and YouTube accounts in their quest to advise people against drunk driving. In this case, these health practitioners use technology in helping the societies fight road accidents. Finally, the nurses must develop empathy before embarking on helping the victims. It helps them develop passion to help the victims. A nurse must have a positive attitude towards helping accident victims. In most cases, reckless drivers are receiving limited attention from the nurses. Nurses should also receive training from the top management to enable them develop a positive attitude towards their work. Care must also be taken to control the overacting personnel like the ones who develop compassion fatigue. This sensitizes them on the need to take their profession to a higher level. It encourages research on recent developments in their field. By training such dedicated professionals, it helps in addressing issues like accidents. At the end of the treatment, the nurses should take survivors into counseling sessions. It shows that he or she is ready to help the client avoid such situations in the future. For instance, a nurse can recommend that a patient should quit drinking but if they cannot, driving while drunk should be discouraged. A good nurse can advise the patients that when going for a party he or she should hire a driver in case they cannot control their drinking. The slogan to the patient should be “do not drink and drive” (cited in SAMHSA 65). Conclusion In summary, the Miami De County is facing road accident nightmares. The county is recording a worrying trend in the alcohol-related road crashes. This is attributed to the drinking habit of the county. Statistics show that the county did record high accident numbers between the years 2010 and 2012. Recently the numbers have been increasing with alcohol contributing to almost a third of the accidents. The traffic police have worked endlessly to salvage the situation to no avail. There is a new group of drinkers: the teenagers in university. These groups lead affluent lives occasioned with drinking. The resulted is many road accidents and death tolls. The only professionals that can handle this situation are nurses. This paper recommends that nurses can use their influence on the patients they attend to reduce these road accidents. They have a variety of intervention stages, from the education sector to the alcohol advertising companies. Throughout this paper, it is notable that nurses have less intervention with regard accidents. This paper also should bring awareness to the nurses and encourage their participation in reducing alcohol-related road crashes. Works Cited SAMHA 2013. “Prevention and Promotion.” Web. 27 Jul. 2013. . Read More