Shepherd Center is pleased to announce it has received a $19,768.72. grant from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS). For the fourth consecutive year, Shepherd Center will continue utilizing the Safe System Approach, with its Rural Roads Seatbelt Safety Project. The grant year began on Oct.1, 2026, and will end on Sept. 30, 2027. 

The grant will help finance increasing seat belt compliance using a social norming campaign targeting rural Georgians. 

“Although seat belts are the best way to protect yourself in the event of a crash and have been well-documented to save lives and reduce injuries, seatbelt compliance continues to be a challenge,” said Emma Harrington, director of injury prevention at Shepherd Center. 

In the project’s third year, Harrington continued working on a renewed media push as well as several community events geared toward seat belt safety and ended the year with a compliance rate of 93.8% up from a starting point of 79.9% in 2024. 

“The Governor's Office of Highway Safety continues to work with state and local agencies to develop innovative projects and campaigns that are designed to save lives and protect everyone traveling on Georgia's roads and highways,” said Allen Poole, Director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. "We remind all drivers that following the rules of the road not only helps saves your life but also helps to make sure others make it home safely to their families as well." 

Shepherd Center and the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety ask that drivers do their part to make the roads safer. 

The Governor's Office of Highway Safety's mission is to educate the public on safe driving behaviors and implement highway safety campaigns and programs designed to reduce crashes and eliminate fatalities and injuries on Georgia roads. For more information on this grant program, contact GOHS at 404-656-6996, and for more information on GOHS and its other highway safety programs, visit www.gahighwaysafety.org. 
 

It’s guidance many drivers have heard time and time again, yet distracted driving continues to be a public health crisis. In 2024, 3,208 people were killed and 315,167 people were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

While cellphones can be a major distraction for drivers, other kinds of distractions can also claim drivers’ attention on the road, like a spilled drink or a missed exit. Luckily, there are steps you can take to stay focused while driving.

For Distracted Driving Awareness Month, experts from Shepherd Center share their advice to ensure a distraction-free drive, keeping you, your passengers, and other people on the road safe.

JJ Brown

Driver/Tech, Recreation Therapy Program

The Recreation Therapy team is committed to promoting safe, attentive driving — especially when driving patients during community outings. Taking a few simple steps to stay focused behind the wheel can make a big difference in keeping everyone safe. Here are some practical tips to help reduce distractions while driving:

• Lead by example: Whether transporting others or driving in your personal life, modeling attentive, distraction-free driving encourages others to do the same.
• Practice patience, slow down, and manage frustration: Traffic can be unpredictable, and it’s easy to feel frustrated. Take a breath, give yourself extra time, and avoid reacting to other drivers. Staying calm helps you stay focused and make safer decisions.
• Prepare before you start driving: Set your GPS, adjust mirrors, choose your music, secure all passengers and any personal items before putting the vehicle in motion. A few extra seconds upfront can prevent distractions later.
• Stay aware of your surroundings: Regularly scan the road, check mirrors, and anticipate what other drivers might do. Staying mentally engaged helps prevent your mind from wandering.
• Limit multitasking: Avoid eating, adjusting controls, or reaching for items while driving. Even small actions can take your attention off the road longer than you realize.
• Create a calm driving environment: Keep noise levels manageable and minimize anything that could pull your attention away, like loud music or clutter in the vehicle.

Photo caption: Brown, right, with close friend Chris Heitzman. Both are former Shepherd patients — Brown sustained a spinal cord injury in 2018. Read more about Brown's story here. 
 

Matt Abisamra, OTR/L, CDRS

Program Supervisor, Driving Evaluation and Rehabilitation Program

If you’re using hand controls to operate your vehicle, you can’t free up your hands to adjust the radio, temperature, or other settings. But, you can prepare before starting your drive to make sure you have a comfortable and safe environment.

• Connect your phone to your car via Bluetooth for hands-free communications, navigation, and adjust to your music or podcasts.
• Use your car’s auto temperature setting to keep a consistent and comfortable temperature.
• Ideally, find a vehicle with automatic lights and windshield wipers, so if weather conditions change while you’re on the road, you’re prepared.

Additionally, for some of our clients with cognitive challenges, GPS apps offer support even on routine drives. Apps that tell drivers which lane to be in are especially helpful and can keep drivers focused on the road.

Photo caption: Abisamra, right, works with a client in the Driving Evaluation and Rehabilitation Program
 

Emma Harrington, MSPS

Director of Injury Prevention

• Set an example for your kids: Model the behavior you want to see from your future teen driver and lay the groundwork for a culture of safety in your home before the car seats turn around.
• Georgia is a hand-free state: Before you shift into gear set your music, podcasts, and GPS routes. If you need to adjust anything, pull over safely.
• Use technology that helps you block… technology: Enable your phone’s built‑in Driving Focus/Auto‑Silence modes or use blocking apps that disable notifications while driving.
• Set expectations for a culture of safety with your loved ones: Let family, friends, and coworkers know you do not respond while driving.
• Treat all alerts as distractions: Infotainment screens, smart watches, smart glasses. They all count.
• Let passengers help — or hold you accountable: Passengers can manage music, messages, or navigation. When you’re the passenger, reinforce a culture of safety and offer to help the driver.

Photo caption: Harrington is the Director of Injury Prevention.

Shepherd has become a leader in the injury prevention community through constant innovation, focusing not simply on behavior change, but also on safe road systems, advocating for better engineering and infrastructure, and building local coalitions to take on these life-and-death issues long-term. “When I started in 2014, we mostly produced flyers and brochures,” Emma says.  “But it’s evolved into much more of an evidence-based public health approach, targeting the top mechanisms of injury for the patients we treat—motor vehicle crashes, violence, falls, and, in  the summer, diving.” 

It may be impossible to tell how many people were not injured because of any intervention, but statistics show that the safe-highway system approach, which focuses on safe road users, safe vehicles, safe speeds, safe roads, and post-crash care, works. “They’ve been doing it in Europe for decades, and in Australia and New Zealand,” Emma says. “They’ve saved lives. We know it’s possible. The behavioral change piece is still there, but it’s with the assumption that we’re humans and we’re going to make mistakes. So, how can we lessen the impact of those mistakes? It’s exciting to be on the cutting edge of change.”

Written by Teresa Weaver

This story is an excerpt from “Mission Moments: 50 Years of Rebuilding Lives One Moment at a Time,” a book celebrating Shepherd’s 50th anniversary in 2025. You can explore the full eBook or purchase a hardcover copy here. 

Shepherd Center is pleased to announce it has received a $233,971.59 grant from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS). For the third consecutive year, Shepherd Center will continue utilizing the Safe System Approach, with its Rural Roads Seatbelt Safety Project. The grant year began on Oct.1, 2025, and will end on Sept. 30, 2026. 

The grant will help finance increasing seat belt compliance using a social norming campaign targeting rural Georgians. 
 

“Although seat belts are the best way to protect yourself in the event of a crash and have been well-documented to save lives and reduce injuries, seatbelt compliance continues to be a challenge,” said Emma Harrington, director of injury prevention at Shepherd Center. 
 

In the project’s second year, Harrington continued working on a renewed media push as well as several community events geared toward seat belt safety. 
 

“The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety and our partners continue to implement programs designed to save lives and promote safe driving behaviors,” said Allen Poole, director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. 
 

Shepherd Center and the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety ask that drivers do their part to make the roads safer. 
 

The Governor's Office of Highway Safety's mission is to educate the public on safe driving behaviors and implement highway safety campaigns and programs designed to reduce crashes and eliminate fatalities and injuries on Georgia roads. For more information on this grant program, contact GOHS at 404-656-6996, and for more information on GOHS and its other highway safety programs, visit www.gahighwaysafety.org. 


 

Some things that may increase your risk for a fall include:

·      Changes in vision

·      Decreased strength or impaired sensation

·      Lack of sleep

·      Medication side effects

·      Footwear that is not supportive or does not protect against slippery surfaces

·      Using an assistive device improperly or choosing not to use an assistive device when needed

·      Changes in blood pressure

·      Changing positions quickly

·      Fear of falling

But there are lots of tools available to reduce your risk.

“We have multiple strategies in place to reduce falls while in rehab and to help carry over fall prevention at home,” says Kallie Little, PT, DPT, a physical therapist in the inpatient Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Program.

The interdisciplinary care team works with patients throughout inpatient rehabilitation to practice safe mobility, safe environment setup, cognitive strategies (including pausing before an action to think through the steps required to complete it), and proper assistive device use. Team members provide independent instruction to caregivers on how to best assist with mobility needs to help reduce the risk of falls at home. A home modifications education class for patients and caregivers includes recommendations specific to the patient’s residence.

Little says that patients and caregivers have the opportunity to do a trial run of their routines with an “in-center pass,” which allows them to practice their day- and nighttime routines with Shepherd staff nearby to offer guidance and support. Then, the care team can address any concerns that arise before discharge.

Shepherd’s Transition Support Program (TSP) provides an additional layer of care after discharge for patients who need it. Bridget Smith, CTRS, a life skills therapist with TSP, assists patients post-discharge as they adjust to being home.

“Part of my initial evaluation is a home evaluation. So I go into their homes, I assess all areas of the home for safety, accessibility, and often, if the therapists have made recommendations, I can make sure that they've followed through on those, or if not, maybe see if we can problem-solve it a different way,” Smith explains.

Smith looks for fall hazards and ways to mitigate them, guides former patients on positioning equipment properly, and works to ensure that the patient's equipment stays aligned with their changing needs.

Since it’s essential for people to continue to exercise after discharge to maintain or improve strength and balance, Smith guides them in finding the best areas to exercise at home.

“And then I can assess: ‘Should you do this alone, or wait until your caregiver is with you?’ And pick and choose which exercises they can do more independently.”

Smith can help her clients develop a “dos and don’ts list” of safe activities around the house. She also talks to them about what to do in the instance of a fall — including practicing floor transfers, discussing the use of cameras or fall alert systems, and reminding caregivers that it’s okay to call another family member, a neighbor, or even 911 for help.

Here are some things you can do to reduce fall risk:

·      Place a call bell and all your needs within reach

·      Lock your bed or wheelchair

·      Ensure appropriate lighting, including nightlights

·      Remove obstacles and clutter in your home

·      Secure grab bars in key locations in the bathroom

·      Install non-slip tread on ramps, steps, and in bathtubs

·      Wear supportive, non-slip footwear

·      Know the side effects of your medications and talk with your doctor and pharmacist about potential side effects that make you feel dizzy. 

·      Limit alcohol use

·      Stay up to date on maintenance for your wheelchair and other mobility aids

·      Schedule an annual appointment for wheelchair adjustments to ensure your positioning accessories function properly and to reduce fall risk

·      Wait for a caregiver to be present if you need help with mobility

·      Sit up or get out of bed slowly, to reduce the risk of feeling lightheaded and off balance

·      If you can stand, consider sitting during nighttime visits to the bathroom

·      Talk to your healthcare provider if you are experiencing new dizziness, lightheadedness, loss of balance, or falls.

You can play an active role in preventing falls and protecting your independence by taking a little time to plan and prepare.  You’ll find more tips at MyShepherdConnection.org.

Top Tips to Prevent Falls

1. Stay healthy and active. Keep up with annual eye exams, hearing exams, and physicals, which can alert you and your doctor to problems that might make you more prone to falls. Maintain muscle tone and core body strength by staying active. Talk with your doctor if you’ve had a fall or think you are at risk of falling. The fear of falling can be an indicator of future falls — be honest with your doctor to proactively maintain independence.  They can provide resources.
2. Think twice before climbing that ladder. If you must get on a ladder, please have someone else present to spot you and ensure the ladder is adequately secured. If using a step ladder in your home, make sure it has sturdy grips and is locked in place before climbing. Never use a chair as a step ladder.
3. Hire a professional. It’s best to leave outside jobs like cleaning the gutters or painting the house to the experts. Spending the money to have the gutters cleaned is a lot less costly than a catastrophic injury.
4. Stay alert. Always be extra careful when drinking alcohol, and avoid looking at your phone while walking, especially going down stairs!
5. Make modifications to your home. Remove any loose rugs or cords, keep pathways clear, ditch clutter, use motion-activated night lights, and keep flashlights handy to help guide you in the dark. Non-slip mats and grab bars, if needed, can help make bathrooms safer.
6. Wear suitable shoes. Make sure they fit well. Ideally, shoes should have non-skid soles.
7. Always wear a helmet. If you ride bikes, motorcycles, scooters, or horses, protect your head.
8. Review your medications. Talk with your healthcare team about the medications — prescription and over-the-counter — you take. Sometimes, certain medications or combinations of medications can leave you feeling off-balance.
9. Accept assistance when you need it. If you feel unsteady or unsure, ask for help.

He doesn’t remember the accident — or the two months leading up to it and the five or six months after it. His first memory is of physical therapy at Shepherd Center. 

“I knew what I had to do to get my life back,” Clark says now, a decade later. “I had this dream of waking up in my frat house, walking across campus, hanging out with my buddies—just having my college life back. This fueled an unbelievable fire inside me. I always knew I was going to make it back,” he says. “I never let myself begin to think otherwise.” 

In 2020, Clark at last had his chance to make it back—he walked across the stage and received his diploma from Georgia Tech. “It was pretty awesome,” he says. “I felt like I was a superstar.” 

“He is a miracle,” says his mother, Mariellen Jacobs. Any proud mother might say that, but in fact, Clark’s survival story has prompted changes that make every college student in Georgia safer. “Clark’s accident happened so quickly, and it was something I had never thought about—the danger of falling out of elevated beds,” Mariellen says. “But I thought, ‘Surely, this is not the only time this has ever happened.’” 

And so, as Clark began his recovery, Mariellen started gathering facts and reaching out to other parents, eventually forming a nonprofit organization called Rail Against the Danger. The group’s rallying cry: “Do you think you’re too old for a safety rail? Don’t fall for that.”  

Mariellen’s background in graphic design and marketing helped her channel her anguish into activism, as Rail Against the Danger began advocating with the University System of Georgia to install safety rails on all loft and bunk beds in campus housing. After a few years of lobbying and many iterations, the new rule was put in place in the fall of 2019. 

Rail Against the Danger attracted the attention of Nanette Hausman, mother of a college student who died after a tragic skateboarding accident in Colorado. Along with several other parents who had lost their children to preventable accidents on campuses across the country, Mariellen and Nanette, who has since passed away, created the College Safety Coalition, which works on legislation to hold schools more accountable and transparent about campus safety. 

“Alana Shepherd was a key element in giving me the courage and the strength to really pursue Rail Against the Danger,” says Mariellen, who since 2019 has worked in Shepherd Center’s Peer Support Program. “She told me, ‘Knock down every door and don’t take “no” for an answer.’ . . . Just look at what Alana has done. She helped start Shepherd Center and now it’s two gigantic new buildings and 50 years of advocacy. You start somewhere, and you just keep going. Anything is possible if you just keep going.” 

Written by Teresa Weaver

This story is an excerpt from “Mission Moments: 50 Years of Rebuilding Lives One Moment at a Time,” a book celebrating Shepherd’s 50th anniversary in 2025. 

The Safe System Approach to Rural Roads grant, awarded to Shepherd Center for the second consecutive year by the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS), will focus on increasing seat belt compliance using a social norming campaign targeting rural Georgians. The highway safety grant, totaling $208,440.99, will begin on October 1, 2024, and end on September 30, 2025.

The pilot year ended in September 2024 and resulted in a media campaign starring local coalition members in Laurens County, Georgia. Georgia Rural Roads, It’s About Us can be found at georgiaruralroads.org.

“Although seat belts are the best way to protect yourself in the event of a crash and have been well-documented to save lives and reduce injuries, seatbelt compliance continues to be a challenge,” said Emma Harrington, director of injury prevention at Shepherd Center. “Unfortunately, Georgia’s trends mirror injury and fatality data nationally and at a level endured over 30 years ago. Increasing proper restraint use is key to saving lives on Georgia roadways.”

From 2019 to 2020, there was a 14.4% increase nationally in unrestrained passenger vehicle occupants, resulting in 10,983 lives lost.  In 2020, 51% of occupants in fatal crashes were known to be unrestrained, resulting in 10,893 lives lost on roadways nationwide (FARS, 2020).

In Georgia, despite relatively high rates of seat belt compliance, almost 50% of Georgia roadway fatalities were unrestrained. On average, 644 lives could have been saved per year (2016-2020) if all vehicle occupants had been properly restrained in our state (OPTT Fact Sheet).

Of particular concern are drivers on rural roads, which have been identified as a highly vulnerable population. Even though only 19% of the nation’s population lives in rural areas, almost 50% of all fatal crashes happen on rural roads. The risk of dying is 62% higher on a rural road than on urban roads for the same length of trip.

This project aims to combine Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) priorities on rural roads and the Safe System Approach to Rural Roads with a cutting-edge social norming seat belt campaign.

“We have strategically combined countermeasures that work and evidence-based social norming to create an intervention to reduce unrestrained injuries and fatalities in our pilot rural counties,” Harrington said. “By including non-traditional stakeholders and building a community coalition, we hope to empower rural road users to transform their own traffic safety culture in Georgia.”

Social norming campaigns have a long history and strong evidence base for changing risky behavior. Best thought of as culture change interventions, social norming focuses on the vast majority of people doing the right thing and their ability to influence the small percentage of people engaging in risky behavior. While Georgia does have a significant problem with unrestrained crashes, the truth is that most drivers buckle up. Social norming theorem aims to dispel the myths, provide accurate information, and focus on growing the positive actions and characteristics of the majority.

“The grant aims to transform our safety culture and create a shared sense of responsibility for all road users,” Harrington said. “While this pilot grant will be one year in scope, it is just the beginning in making Georgia’s roads and most vulnerable users safer.”

Shepherd Center and the Governor’s Office of Highway ask that drivers do their part to make the roads safer.

“The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety and our partners continue to implement programs designed to save lives and promote safe driving behaviors,” said Allen Poole, director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. “We ask everyone to help our state and nation reach the attainable goal of zero traffic deaths by driving safe speeds, always wearing a seat belt, keeping the focus on the road and not the phone, and never operating a vehicle under the influence of any substance that impairs your ability to drive.”

Seat belts are the single best way to protect yourself in a crash, and numerous studies have reported that they save lives and reduce injuries. Despite enjoying years of relatively high rates of seat belt compliance, in 2023 almost 62% of Georgia roadway fatalities were either unbelted or unknown. And in Georgia and the nation as a whole, seatbelt use has declined since 2021.

Still, most of us do buckle up and expect our loved ones to do the same. How do we reach the risk-takers on our roads? It starts with your own sphere of influence: Here is what you can do to decrease your risk and strengthen a culture of safety in your community.

1. Model the behavior you want to see in your children. As soon as their car seat is forward-facing, they are watching and learning.
2. Make a family rule that the vehicle does not start until everyone is buckled up. Make this non-negotiable.
3. Model the correct way to wear your seatbelt on every trip.
4. Understand that backseat passengers who do not wear their seatbelts are a liability for everyone else in the vehicle. Unrestrained passengers can become projectiles and injure belted passengers in the event of a crash.
5. Pay close attention to your car seats. Do not switch your child to a forward-facing position or a booster until absolutely necessary based on height and weight. The longer your child can be rear-facing and in a harness, the more protection they have.
6. Do not let your children sit in the front seat. Their smaller frames are much safer in the backseat.
7. Refuse to drive unless all of your passengers are restrained — this includes sticky situations with coworkers, bosses, and other people’s children.
8. Maintain these norms even if you are just going around the corner on a short drive.
9. Talk about the importance of seat belts with your kids and why you expect them to buckle up every time. The same principle applies to wearing a helmet and other expected safety behaviors. If you insist your kids wear a helmet but don’t model the behavior yourself, the lesson is lost.  

In Georgia in 2021, 701 lives were saved thanks to proper restraint use for passengers ages five and above (Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety 2021 Risky Driving Quick Facts). Working together, we can all make the roads safer for everyone.

EMMA HARRINGTON is the director of injury prevention and education services at Shepherd Center. Previously, Emma started the injury prevention program at Grady Memorial Hospital in the Trauma Department. She holds a master of education degree in international education policy from Harvard University. Originally from Boston, Emma is a licensed social studies teacher.

During my childhood, wearing a helmet to ski was decidedly uncool. Perhaps more telling of that era was the idea that skiing in jeans was very cool.

Out of the 10 million or so people who ski and snowboard in the United States, 600,000 injuries occur annually. Of those, head trauma accounts for 20 percent and is the most common cause of morbidity and mortality in these winter sports. (Haider 2012)

Thankfully, in the past few years, helmet use in winter sports has become the norm with an almost 70 percent compliance rate – almost triple the number in 2003. (McMillan 2013) The rate of helmet compliance is encouraging, but it has brought to light some troubling statistics. Despite the number of people wearing helmets, the number of skiers and snowboarders sustaining brain injuries or fatalities has seen no reduction. Worse, studies have claimed that head injuries have actually increased.

According to a Western Michigan University School of Medicine’s 2012 study, head injuries have increased by 60 percent in seven years. The University of Washington furthered those results in its 2013 study, showing a 250 percent increase in snow-sports-related head injuries among youths and adolescents.

Experts have debated several theories that may explain the simultaneous rise in helmet use and head injuries. Perhaps the most convincing argument relates to risk-taking behavior. It is telling to examine who is getting hurt: 70 percent of snow-sport fatalities involve males in their late teens to early 30s. (McMillan 2013) As snow sport technology has yielded better, faster skis and snowboards, a push for more extreme sporting has followed. Resorts have opened more dangerous trails and are accused of propagating the risk-taking skier/boarder mentality with sponsorships and promotions of ever-more dangerous flips and tricks.

Often, people are surprised to learn that brain injuries can occur even when wearing a helmet. That leads researchers to believe there is a false sense of security that is leading to an increase in risk-taking behaviors.

Snow sports are a fun and great way to spend a winter afternoon, but like any sport, these activities come with some risk involved. Arm yourself with these tips (and helmets) to prevent a brain or spinal cord injury. Knowledge that leads to better decision-making is the key to prevention.

There are several, other smaller safety precautions that everyone should consider before hitting the slopes.

1. Stay at your level. Trails are always marked with a green circle, blue square, or black diamond. Staying in control of your skis or snowboard is key to preventing injury.
2. Constantly scan. Watch out for those who are going too fast, and/or have lost control and get out of their way fast.
3. When going down a mountain, if you have to stop for any reason, move to the side of the trail. This prevents collisions with other skiers or boarders.
4. Take a break when tired, and skip the last run of the day. Injuries happen when you are tired and not paying full attention to your surroundings.
5. Skiing off-piste exposes you to hidden rocks, ledges, and avalanches, and is not worth the risk. Trees are not your friend when skiing, sledding, or boarding.
6. When sledding or tubing, always go down feet first. Breaking a leg is far better than hitting your head.
7. Wear your helmet. Even when sledding. Keep your head warm and avoid concussions and more serious brain injuries.

For more information on Shepherd Center's Injury Prevention Program, click here.

Sources
Haider, Adil H. "Helmets Save Lives of Skiiers and Snowboarders." Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, 2012.
Mayo Clinic. 2015. www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/spinal-cord-injury/basics/causes/con-20023837
McMillan, Kelley. "Ski Helmet Use Isn't Reducing Brain Injuries." The New York Times, Dec. 31, 2013.

EMMA HARRINGTON is the director of injury prevention and education services at Shepherd Center. Previously, Emma started the injury prevention program at Grady Memorial Hospital in the Trauma Department. She holds a master of education degree in international education policy from Harvard University. Originally from Boston, Emma is a licensed social studies teacher.

According to The Governor’s Highway Safety Association, 45% of all fatal crashes happen on rural roads, and the risk of dying is 62% higher on a rural road than on urban roads for the same length of trip. Together, Shepherd Center’s Injury Prevention Program and Montana State University Center for Health and Safety Culture are working to make rural roads a safer place to travel.

Through the Safe System Approach to Rural Roads grant, awarded by the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS), the two organizations will focus on increasing seat belt compliance using a social norming campaign targeting rural Georgians. The funds provided by Georgia to GOHS are provided by the National Highway Traffic Administration. The highway safety grant, totaling $237,300, will begin on October 1, 2023, and end on September 30, 2024.

“Although seat belts are the best way to protect yourself in the event of a crash and have been well-documented to save lives and reduce injuries, seatbelt compliance continues to be a challenge,” said Emma Harrington, director of injury prevention at Shepherd Center. “Unfortunately, Georgia’s trends mirror injury and fatality data nationally and at a level endured over 30 years ago. Increasing proper restraint use is key to saving lives on Georgia roadways.”

From 2019 to 2020, there was a 14.4% increase nationally in unrestrained passenger vehicle occupants, resulting in 10,983 lives lost.  In 2020, 51% of occupants in fatal crashes were known to be unrestrained, resulting in 10,893 lives lost on roadways nationwide (FARS, 2020).

In Georgia, despite relatively high rates of seat belt compliance, almost 50% of Georgia roadway fatalities were unrestrained. On average, 644 lives could have been saved per year (2016-2020) if all vehicle occupants had been properly restrained in our state (OPTT Fact Sheet).

Of particular concern are drivers on our rural roads, which have been identified as a highly vulnerable population. Even though only 19% of the nation’s population lives in rural areas, almost 50% of all fatal crashes happen on rural roads. The risk of dying is 62% higher on a rural road than on urban roads for the same length of trip.

This project aims to combine Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) priorities on rural roads and the Safe System Approach to Rural Roads with a cutting-edge social norming seat belt campaign.

“We have strategically combined countermeasures that work and evidence-based social norming to create an intervention to reduce unrestrained injuries and fatalities in our pilot rural counties,” Harrington said. “By including non-traditional stakeholders and building community coalitions, we hope to empower rural road users to transform their own traffic safety culture in Georgia.”

Social norming campaigns have a long history and strong evidence base for changing risky behavior. Best thought of as culture change interventions, social norming focuses on the vast majority of people doing the right thing and their ability to influence the small percentage of people engaging in risky behavior. While Georgia does have a significant problem with unrestrained crashes, the truth is that most drivers buckle up. Social norming theorem aims to dispel the myths, provide accurate information, and focus on growing the positive actions and characteristics of the majority.

“The grant aims to transform our safety culture and create a shared sense of responsibility for all road users,” Harrington said. “While this pilot grant will be one year in scope, it is just the beginning in making Georgia’s roads and most vulnerable users safer.”

Shepherd Center and the Governor’s Office of Highway ask that drivers do their part to make the roads safer.

“The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety and our partners continue to implement programs designed to save lives and promote safe driving behaviors,” said Allen Poole, director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. “We ask everyone to help our state and nation reach the attainable goal of zero traffic deaths by driving safe speeds, always wearing a seat belt, keeping the focus on the road and not the phone, and never operating a vehicle under the influence of any substance that impairs your ability to drive.”

By Emma Harrington, director of injury prevention and education at Shepherd Center

Recent heat waves have prompted many important conversations around hot weather safety, including what we should consider to prevent child fatalities in hot cars. While we have experienced a decrease in hot car deaths since the pandemic began in 2020, those numbers are starting to rise again at an alarming rate. As we veer back into the fast lane of our busy lives, it is important to take a culture of safety with us. Here are some tactics I recommend.

Top Tips to Prevent Hot Car Injuries and Fatalities for Children

1. Leave your phone, purse, or briefcase in the backseat. Accidents happen to even the most attentive, loving caregivers. For example, factors like sleep deprivation can wreak havoc on cognitive abilities. Create a system like leaving items in the backseat to ensure you always check for your child before locking up the vehicle.
2. Even if it is relatively cool outside, do not leave a child in the car. Cars heat up very quickly. It only takes 10 minutes for a car’s temperature to rise 20 degrees. Children cannot regulate their body temperature like adults, so even if it’s cool outside or you park in the shade, bring them with you.
3. Keep your car locked when at home or parked. Kids can and do use the car as a hiding spot and a jungle gym. Ensure they cannot get into the car by locking it when you are not present.
4. Teach your child to unlock your car door from the inside and practice. Just like you teach your child to memorize their phone number and recognize helpers, this should be in every family’s safety training. Begin practicing as soon as your child is cognitively ready.
5. Get your car seat checked by a certified car seat technician. A culture of safety begins now. 75% of us install our car seats incorrectly. Learn how to do it right, every time. Find a certified technician near you here.
6. Low-tech to high-tech solutions. From simple lanyards that clip into the car seat to high-tech sensors and alarms that alert you when the baby is left in a car there are many options out there to suit every budget.
7. Bonus tip: Remember your pets. Temperatures as low as 57 degrees can become deadly in minutes. Avoid leaving your furry friends in the car, as well.

Sources:
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Prevent Child Injury

By Emma Harrington, director of injury prevention and education at Shepherd Center

Ask any new parent who is routinely pouring their cereal into their coffee if fatigue impacts their ability to function. Not getting enough shut-eye has serious cognitive consequences, like inhibiting decision-making, attention, and memory — all significant skill sets needed to drive safely. Substantial time and attention have been paid to the distracted driving epidemic in our nation. Still, perhaps more education needs to be done on drowsy driving because it is easy for even the most vigilant among us to slip into it. The CDC reports that 1 in 25 has fallen asleep at the wheel in the last month. Most likely underrepresented in the data, at least 6,000 fatal crashes may have involved a drowsy driver in 2020. Certainly, more research on drowsy driving needs to be done, but for now, here are a few tips on how to keep yourself and your loved ones safe.

1. Talk to your kids about the importance of getting enough sleep — and lead by example. Set regular bedtimes and limit screen time before bed.
2. Familiarize yourself with your state’s Graduated Drivers Licensing laws: most states restrict new drivers to daytime driving, as nighttime hours are far riskier. This is especially true for drowsy driving, where most injuries and fatalities occur between midnight and 6 a.m.
3. Recognize and talk about the warning signs of drowsy driving, including weaving, hitting the rumble strips, missing your exit or turn, blinking and yawning, and not remembering the last few miles driven.
4. When appropriate, pull over and call for help or switch drivers. Using your parents’ trick of turning up the radio is not enough to keep you safe on the road.
5. Be aware that your brain may operate differently late at night. According to neurologists at Mass General, your brain’s chemicals change at night, resulting in negative changes in attitudes and behavior.

Sources:

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnsys.2014.00046/full

https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/features/drowsy-driving.html

https://www.wishtv.com/news/medical/scientists-say-when-it-comes-to-the-brain-nothing-good-happens-after-midnight/

So, she admits it’s “a little embarrassing” to recount the day in July 2017 when she decided to try a kick scooter for the first time.

“I’d never ridden one before, and it started going so fast,” she recalls. “A little bit of a decline down my front driveway, and I ended up in the road in front of my house, having landed basically on my face.”

Catherine didn’t lose consciousness – she picked herself up and went inside to get cleaned up. It wasn’t until almost a week later that she decided to seek treatment.

“I began not to think as clearly. Something wasn’t right, and I knew it,” she says.

Catherine was taken to the emergency room and found out she had sustained a concussion, along with several complications. She was immediately admitted to the ICU.

“I began to learn a lot about what can happen under the umbrella of concussions – migraines, disequilibrium, and a variety of ocular-vestibular symptoms,” she explains. “I had a real eye-opener about how much more injured I could have been by not wearing a helmet that day.”

Catherine was discharged after a week of hospitalization. Then, a friend, a patient advocate and nurse, recommended Shepherd Center’s Complex Concussion Clinic (CCC). The clinic, led by Russell Gore, M.D., works with clients experiencing symptoms from a concussion that don’t resolve within a few weeks after their injury. It provides comprehensive care, addressing each client’s specific physical, emotional, cognitive, and sleep symptoms, some of which can be hard to detect without specialized diagnostic equipment and expertise.

In her initial assessment at the CCC, Catherine says she scored poorly on balance, memory, and organizational capacity. So, her care team got to work, setting up a program to aid Catherine in her recovery.

“The amount of time and attention to subtle signs and symptoms was impressive,” she says. “They were able to bridge the gap between where I was and what they know to take me further toward recovery.”

In addition to the Shepherd team, Catherine credits her recovery to her partner, Debbie Mosure’s, unwavering support, advocacy, and team-based philosophy. Debbie established a team and coordinated between physicians, nurses, and loved ones. Catherine recalls how friends and neighbors each had a role, checking on her, driving her to appointments, and helping her maintain exercise routines, all focused on her health and recovery.

“We have an unbelievable community of friends and loved ones, near and far, who were difference-makers, each one of them,” Catherine reflects.

Debbie was equally impressed with the care the CCC provided.

“This wasn’t just about getting better so she could function. It was really practical skill-building, teaching us about new ways to live our lives even more fully and successfully.”

Catherine resumed work at the CDC almost four months after sustaining the concussion.

“I am so grateful each day to have a level of function, as well as self-awareness and mental health, well above where I was before the concussion. I am even more committed to my work at the CDC and federal public service. I don’t want to waste a minute of what I almost lost,” Catherine says.

Recently, she returned to the clinic after some of her symptoms began recurring.

“They did an assessment, and Dr. Gore said, ‘This is not surprising in the era of COVID when we have all retreated some.’ He said, ‘We just need to plug you back into structured therapy,’” she explains.

Now, as the world begins to open, Catherine can enjoy activities, like attending an Atlanta Braves game with friends, that might have felt overstimulating and uncomfortable before therapy.

“With the CCC, it's about the scientific knowledge Dr. Gore and his team are advancing. They are making services accessible to more people and in real-time,” she says. “My hope is that people the country over can have access to this kind of high-quality care from an extraordinary team.”

Written by Ruth Underwood

“In my mind, I was panicking, but there was no time to freak out,” he remembers. He held his breath until friends turned him over and pulled him out.

But even then, he tried to downplay what was happening. 

“I didn’t want to ruin spring break for my friends,” he says. So, while they waited for the EMTs, Devin cracked jokes and made light of the situation, even though he feared he was seriously injured.

This compassion for others and a determination to see the positive side of everything is a hallmark of Devin’s personality. It has also led the way for Devin to achieve milestones both big and small during rehabilitation.

Devin was airlifted to Ascension Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, Florida, where he underwent surgery and was placed on a ventilator. Doctors confirmed he sustained a C-5/C-6 spinal cord injury (SCI) and was paralyzed from the neck down.

After nearly two weeks in the hospital, Devin transferred to Shepherd Center’s inpatient Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Program on April 27, still on a ventilator and with limited movement.

Still, his positive attitude prevailed. “I had heard such good things about Shepherd Center,” he says. “It gave me a lot of hope.”

Devin, who is a member of the Washington and Lee swim team and was just finishing his freshman year, is accustomed to discipline and hard work, and he is using that same motivation in his rehabilitation.

“If you work hard at practice, you’ll do well in the meet,” he says. “Though it’s not the same as a race, here I’m working hard to be more independent.”

That discipline has paid off. Since arriving at Shepherd Center, Devin has weaned off the ventilator and has regained movement and strength in his upper body, which has allowed him to use a manual wheelchair, lower and raise himself into the wheelchair and conduct weight shifts without assistance.

He has also made the most of his time at Shepherd in other ways. Devin was chosen as the “mayor” of the Adolescent Rehabilitation Program, which involves greeting new patients and welcoming them to the floor. The previous mayor had served as a role model.

“He had a similar injury to mine, and I saw him making progress, which lifted my spirits,” Devin says. “Now, I can do the same for other people.”

He also participated in Project Rollway, an annual fashion show at Shepherd Center featuring current and former adolescent patients. And in a recent outing to the Georgia Aquarium, he swam with the whale sharks and relished being back in the water.

“These kinds of activities show me that I can’t let this injury stop me,” Devin says.

He’ll leave the inpatient program at the end of July and continue his rehabilitation in Shepherd Center’s SCI Day Program, before returning home to Fredericksburg, Virginia. He’ll resume his studies at Washington and Lee in January 2023 and plans to pass on this advice to his classmates: “It’s really important to enter the water feet first, especially if you are unfamiliar with how deep it is.”

Devin believes staying positive has contributed to his improvement, but on those off days, he relies on others for support.

“Knowing people are rooting for me really helps keep my spirits up,” he says. “It’s a rough process for everyone, but if you see others working hard and improving, it gives you a good outlook. Shepherd Center is a community where people really care about each other, and you see you are not alone here.”

Written by Sara Baxter

By Emma Harrington, director of injury prevention and education at Shepherd Center

Falls are one of the most common causes of traumatic brain injuries and spinal cord injuries, no matter how old you are. A common misconception is that falls are a normal part of the aging process, but there are things you can proactively do to keep yourself and your loved ones safe. Follow these simple steps to reduce the risk of falling.

Top Tips to Prevent Falls at Home and in the Workplace

1. Stay healthy and active. Keep up with annual eye exams, hearing exams, and physicals, which can alert you and your doctor to problems that might make you more prone to falls. Help maintain muscle tone and core body strength by staying active.
2. Be your own advocate. Talk with your doctor if you’ve had a fall or think you are at risk of falling as he or she can provide resources. Always be extra careful when drinking alcohol and be honest about your consumption, especially if falls are occurring under the influence.
3. Review your medications. Talk with your healthcare team about the list of medications – prescription and over-the-counter – that you take. Sometimes certain medications or combinations of medications can leave you feeling off-balance.
4. Wear suitable shoes. Make sure they fit well. Ideally, shoes should have non-skid soles. Avoid flip-flops altogether and slippers where the grip has deteriorated.
5. Think twice before climbing that ladder or chair. If you must get on a ladder, please have someone else present to spot you and ensure the ladder is adequately secured. If using a step ladder at work, make sure it has sturdy grips and is locked in place before reaching up. Climbing on chairs, especially ones with wheels, is a recipe for disaster.
6. Preemptively make modifications to your home. Remove any loose rugs or cords, keep pathways clear, ditch clutter, use motion-activated night lights, and keep flashlights handy to help guide you in the dark. Non-slip mats and grab bars, if needed, can help make bathrooms safer.
7. Hire a professional. For outside jobs like cleaning the gutters or painting the house, it’s best to leave it to the experts. Spending the money to have the gutters cleaned is a lot less costly than a catastrophic injury.
8. Always wear a helmet. If you ride bikes, motorcycles, scooters, or horses, protect your head.
9. Accept assistance when you need it. If you feel unsteady or unsure, ask for help.

Scoot Safe is an innovative safety campaign designed to stem the electric scooter (e-scooter) injuries and fatalities occurring on our roadways. With generous funding from the Georgia Governor's Office of Highway Safety, Shepherd Center embarked on a targeted digital media campaign raising awareness about the risks e-scooter riders face and preventive measures they can implement to stay safe.

Through a pilot program, which included a three-month digital advertising and social media campaign, a virtual conference, direct mailings along the Atlanta Beltline and a dedicated website, we hoped to increase helmet use and decrease speed and intoxicated riding. Using Atlanta, Georgia, as our intervention group and Statesboro, Georgia, as our control group, we worked to determine if mass digital media messaging can affect behavioral change related to injury prevention and micromobility. In this case, micromobility is specific to the use of sharable, dockless electronic scooters.

We observed riders in Atlanta and Statesboro in high-traffic areas before and after the digital campaign measuring correct helmet use, excessive speed, age, gender, number of riders per e-scooter, if any conflict was observed (car, pedestrian, bike), rider location, and if the scooter rider fell or not. Our pre-observations took place in April 2021, and our post-observations took place in September 2021.

In total, we observed 496 riders in Atlanta and 108 in Statesboro before the campaign started. With our post-observations, ridership increased, and we saw 588 riders in Atlanta and 163 in Statesboro. Initial determinations provided by this observational study are the very low rate of helmet use among e-scooter users, across all sites, both genders, all age groups and all riding locations (sidewalk, road, beltline, bike lanes). This rate did not improve in the intervention group as a whole during post-observations but may have improved in some locations or zones while decreasing in others (the number of observations was too small to demonstrate statistically significant changes in specific locations).

In addition, wrong-way riding in the roadway is an issue for younger riders, and riding with two people per scooter is common despite scooter providers’ prohibitions. Finally, the use of protected bike lanes became apparent during this study. E-scooter riders are utilizing these lanes when available, especially the protected ones, suggesting that further investment in bike safety measures could help curb future e-scooter related injuries.

These observations point to obvious targets for future interventions and provide baseline data for comparison and subsequent studies. Visit scootsafega.com to learn more. You can access all the content from our virtual Scoot Safe webinar for free here.

Download the podcast as an audio file above, or access it at shepherd.org/podcasts.

“Micro-mobility is new, and it’s fun and it’s easy,” says Harrington. “But we’re seeing several risky behaviors happen on e-scooters.”

In the new episode, Harrington discusses the increase of e-scooter related injuries and deaths, and Scoot Safe’s approach to awareness and injury prevention—ranging from helmet and first time rider education to protected bike lanes and pedestrian and micro-mobility focused infrastructure.

Visit ScootSafeGA.com for more information about the project, along with resources, graphics and content any person or organization can download and share.

In this issue, two former patients, Karla Dougan and Jack Weeks, share their stories of resilience and recovery in hopes that others learn to prevent similar injuries. Karla hopes that her experience can help spread the message about the dangers of texting and driving. After sustaining a spinal cord injury from diving into shallow water, Jack shares his new optimistic outlook on life. 

The magazine also features these stories among other patient profiles, staff highlights, honorariums and memorials:

Life Still Aquatic Reagan Martin overcomes a spinal cord injury and respiratory challenges to return to the water she loves.

Renewing Hope Tendon and nerve transfer surgeries restore some use of hands and arms post-spinal cord injury.

Empowering Staff, Families and Patients Through Education Carolain Paredes, BSN, RN, CRRN, Brain Injury Rehabilitation Program nurse educator, shares her passion for helping people through her job and injury prevention efforts.

An Ounce of Prevention Shepherd Center's Injury Prevention Program was created in 2012 thanks to generous donations from two personal injury attorneys who saw first-hand the effects of catastrophic injuries and wanted to help prevent them. 

You can subscribe to the print and/or e-newsletter versions of Shepherd Center's magazine here.

Karla Dougan was driving home from a friend’s house when she glanced down at her phone to read a text. When she looked back up, she was off the road. She overcorrected, causing her car to flip over three times. The high school student sustained a traumatic brain injury and spent time at Shepherd Center for rehabilitation. She tells her story in a gripping video public service announcement (PSA), urging teens to avoid doing what she did. As it concludes, she leaves viewers with this warning: “Never, ever look down. Ever.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, car crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers in the United States, and this testimonial is one of several cautioning teens about the risks of distracted driving, speeding and not wearing a seatbelt.

These PSAs are part of Shepherd’s innovative Injury Prevention Program. The PSAs illustrate the risks of certain behaviors to prevent catastrophic spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries caused by vehicle crashes, diving accidents, falls and other causes of injury.

“We call them ‘Injury Prevention Ambassadors’,” says Emma Harrington, Shepherd Center’s director of injury prevention and education. “We’ve found that peer-to-peer messaging is very effective. Scare tactics do not work.”

Aside from the PSAs, Shepherd Center also provides injury prevention education to schools, universities and workplaces through school visits, curriculum guides, and community resources and programs.

Shepherd Center’s Injury Prevention Program was created in 2012 through generous donations from the late Tommy Malone, founder of Malone Law, and Jim Butler, a founding partner at Butler Wooten & Peak LLP. The two personal injury attorneys saw first-hand the effects of catastrophic injuries and wanted to help prevent them.

“People need to be educated on the risks of certain behaviors, like riding on all-terrain vehicles, not wearing seatbelts and diving into water,” says Jim, who has seen the devastating results of these types of injuries. “Education can drastically reduce these injuries. It’s really the key to prevention.”

Tommy passed away in 2019, but his son Adam, now at the helm of Malone Law, is keeping his father’s legacy alive.

“The law in the area of personal injury has two objectives,” Adam says. “The first is to help people put their lives back together after a devastating and life-changing injury. The second, and often overlooked objective, is to deter harmful conduct and prevent disasters in the first place. My dad and I felt that if preventable disasters could be reduced, there is no better spokesperson for bringing awareness to this issue than the nation’s leading rehabilitation hospital and a few of the nation’s most experienced personal injury lawyers. This shared common interest produced Shepherd Center’s Injury Prevention Program and our passion for supporting it. Given our common interests, it only makes sense to work together.”

The program is dynamic — constantly evolving and changing as needed to keep on top of the latest trends. For example, as electric scooters — available to rent instantly in cities — rose in popularity, so did the number of injuries they caused. Harrington received a grant from the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety to develop a safety education program around scooters.

“We are not looking to eliminate scooters, but increase protective factors for riders to make them safer when utilizing micro transportation,” Harrington says.

To start teenagers off on the right path when learning to drive vehicles, Shepherd Center has developed AutoCoach®, a free mobile app to help parents teach their teens to drive safely. A newer version of the app is now available to parents of teens with cognitive and physical disabilities. AutoCoach® was also funded by a grant from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. For younger children, the hospital plans to conduct regular child seat safety checks in the future to ensure car seats are correctly installed.

While Harrington is experienced in securing grants to subsidize some injury prevention programs, she is grateful for donor contributions, which give her an additional funding source.

“It’s amazing — and unprecedented — to have donor funding we can rely on,” Harrington says. “It prevents me from having to be exclusively dependent upon grants and has enabled me to be innovative and pivot to where the data leads me. I have the freedom and flexibility to provide the best preventive services available at the time.”

Joel Wooten, a colleague of Jim Butler’s and another founding partner at Butler Wooten & Peak, has also witnessed the aftermath of spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries. He is pleased his firm can support prevention efforts.

“Catastrophic injuries are life-altering, not only for the individual, but also for the entire family,” Joel says. “It would be great if we never had another spinal cord injury case because of an injury.”

For more information, visit Shepherd Center’s Injury Prevention Program website: shepherd.org/injuryprevention.

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If you are interested in contributing to Shepherd Center’s Injury Prevention Program, please contact Jen Swindall at Shepherd Center Foundation: jennifer.swindall@shepherd.org or 404-350-7301.

Written by Sara Baxter

Q: How long have you worked at Shepherd Center?

I have worked at Shepherd Center for nearly nine years.

Q: How does your role contribute to the hospital’s mission to serve patients and families?

I provide caregiver and staff education for the Brain Injury Rehabilitation Program therapy teams at Shepherd Center. Nurse educators teach staff new processes or changes in best practices that empower them to provide evidence-based practice services to our patients. We also provide some one-to-one education to families on caring for their loved ones when they go home as needed.

Q: What is the most fulfilling part of your job?

I love helping people. It’s what drew me to being a nurse in the first place. The way I see it, since I transitioned from being a nurse to a nurse educator, I participate in caring for the patients and families by providing education to the staff members who are directly involved with them. I share my knowledge, and if I don’t know something, I look it up or find the resources needed to answer the questions staff may have.

Q: How did you get involved with the Injury Prevention Program at Shepherd Center?

One of my goals is to educate the community by going to schools and events to share what I know and, hopefully, make people aware of what brain and spinal cord injuries are, how to care for them and, of course, how to prevent them. This led me to connect with our Injury Prevention Program to do more of this type of community outreach.

So far, I have participated in several online presentations for organizations like Mothers Against Drunk Driving and Students Against Destructive Decisions. I also had the opportunity to help with car seat safety inspections for staff, patients and families. I look forward to continuing this kind of work.

Q: What is the most rewarding part about volunteering your time to injury prevention efforts?

As much as I love our patients and families, I hope that by devoting some time to providing education, I can prevent at least one brain or spinal cord injury. That hope is what makes these efforts so gratifying.

INTERESTING FACTS

EDUCATION

• Carolain is working on a master’s degree as a clinical nurse specialist at South Alabama University.
• She has been a Certified Rehabilitation Registered Nurse (CRRN) for the past four years.
• She is Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) certified and a Basic Life Support (BLS) instructor.

FUN FACTS

• Carolain dances and performs Peruvian folkloric dances in festivals and events.
• She loves spending time with her family and dog, Sasha.
• Carolain is married to her high school sweetheart.

Interview by Damjana Alverson

But Jack wasn’t joking this time. His head had struck the bottom of the shallow water, damaging his C-4 to -6 vertebrae and instantly paralyzing him from the shoulders down.

Quickly, though, Jack’s cousin realized this was real. He got Jack to shore and found a doctor and EMT on the beach to perform CPR.

When Jack’s mom, Cammie, reached the scene, another relative told her Jack was breathing.

“So, at first, we were relieved,” Cammie recalls.

But as the EMTs loaded Jack onto a stretcher, Cammie’s relief evaporated. She saw Jack’s arms flop down, over the sides. Her heart sank with them.

“That’s when I knew, uh oh, something’s really wrong here,” Cammie recalls.

Getting from that moment on June 27, 2020, to today — where Jack is learning to live independently in an adaptive apartment attached to his family’s home in Gorham, Maine — has been an immense challenge. Thanks to the love and support of his family, and care at Shepherd Center, Jack’s story is an uplifting one now. Still, he’s not done trying to scare his friends when it comes to the water — scare them straight, that is.

“Look before you jump,” Jack cautions. “Before you do anything, really. Just be smart.”

His mother is even more direct: “No diving.”

Attitude is Everything

Throughout his rehabilitation, Jack was always thinking of others. During his time at Shepherd Center, he was often called “The Mayor” for how quick he was to greet newcomers to the program and get them involved.

Jack says the community structure of Shepherd Center’s Adolescent Spinal Cord Rehabilitation Program helped him mentally. He became lasting friends with other teenagers who’d sustained similar injuries. By day, the boys would motivate each other in physical and recreational therapy. After hours, they would challenge each other to wheelchair races in the hallways, put together movie nights and talk frankly about their hopes and fears.

“We all kind of knew what each other was going through and could help each other out,” Jack says. “We’d say, ‘hey, attitude is everything. Be positive. Don’t beat yourself up for what you did or how your injury happened. Just roll with the punches. Look at what’s in front of you.’”

As Jack progressed through his rehabilitation, Cammie took her own classes, learning to become Jack’s primary caregiver.

“Everyone at Shepherd Center was so kind and loving and giving of their knowledge and support,” Cammie says. “They really make it feel possible, that you’ll be able to do this. And you can, of course! I feel so comfortable taking care of Jack at home now.”

Jack’s Lair

Jack returned to Maine in winter 2021 to a new home. Jack’s parents, who are divorced but remain close friends, sold their respective houses to buy a larger place that would meet Jack’s needs. Now, the entire family — including his brother Gus, 9, and sister Maggie, 11 — is living together as “Jack’s Lair” comes to life: voice-activated lighting, heating and entertainment systems, an adaptive bathroom, and an easy-to-navigate living area of his own.

For Jack, a typical Saturday revolves around the same things most teenagers crave: a late wake-up call, time spent playing video games and texting with friends he made at Shepherd Center. If it’s nice, the family gets outside. If not, they don’t sweat it if they’re all still in their pajamas come the afternoon.

“That’s what’s important for other families to know,” Cammie says. “We laugh all the time. We do goofy things. We’re happy. Sure, it’s not always easy to stay positive, but you can’t go down those rabbit holes all the time. I look at Jack and see him smile, and I can say, ‘OK, we’re good.’”

Cammie wants families in other situations to feel the same way.

“We have 4.5 acres here at our house, and part of our long-term goal is to build accessible trails here to bring others out to enjoy the land,” Cammie says. “No stigma, no worries. Just a place to feel happiness. We could also bring Jack’s friends from Shepherd Center up here. Like a big summer camp for everyone to enjoy together.”

Looking to the Future

While the Weeks preach injury prevention whenever they have the chance, they also know they must look forward. And they remain thankful for the unexpected blessings that have emerged.

For Jack, that’s meant a new outlook on life.

“Before, I wasn’t really optimistic. I lived in the moment only,” he says. “Now, kinda weirdly, I’m super optimistic. I know everything’s a process. So I just go with the flow and look to the future. I’m hopeful.”

For Cammie, the most rewarding outcome has been watching a previously disconnected family reunite.

“Our family’s gotten so much stronger,” Cammie says. “Things that Jack and I wouldn’t have shared or talked about together, we do now. Our bond is tighter. We wish Jack wasn’t injured, of course. But we’ve also realized what the important parts of life are. For us now, it’s all about love, sharing your experience and helping others.”

Written by Phillip Jordan

Over the course of an hour’s conversation, she does just that. She starts by explaining that her car accident on New Year’s Eve 2016 happened because she was looking down at her phone, texting friends. She calmly details how her car rolled over three times, finally coming to a stop upside down — its full weight on top of her — squeezing the breath from her chest. She even shares how much she misses all the activities she can’t do anymore and how slow the road to recovery has been.

But when Karla tries to talk about the impact her injury has had on those she loves most, that’s when tears come more easily than words.

“It really wasn’t until I was back home, probably a year after my injury, that it hit me what others went through because of all this,” she says. “It’s really hard to process all the stuff your parents went through — that I put them through. My brother was just starting high school, and he had to go through so much.”

The tears flow. Karla pauses, but only for a moment. It’s important for her to share her story, she says, because she wants there to be fewer stories like hers. That motivation compelled her to create a memorable public service announcement for Shepherd Center in 2018 as part of the “Heads UP Georgia” campaign to end distracted driving.

“Before the accident, my friends and I didn’t think anything about texting and driving,” she says in the video. “Calling, Snapchatting, checking Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, it was fun. It’s just what we did. Nobody ever got hurt until I did.”

Karla’s injuries were severe: She sustained an anoxic brain injury, injuries to her C-7, T-1 and T-12 vertebrae, a right femur fracture and a pelvic rim fracture, and a lacerated liver. She’d even gone into cardiac arrest before EMTs arrived on the scene to shock her heart back into rhythm and take her to Grady Memorial Hospital.

“It’s incredible to see where she was back then and where she is now,” says Andrew Dennison, M.D., medical director of Shepherd Center’s Acquired Brain Injury Program. “Even just while she was with us, she went from being totally dependent on help for everything to really participating in her own care.”

Pathway to Independence

Indeed, at Shepherd Center, Karla had to relearn how to talk, swallow and eat — nearly every activity of daily living. Her progress was slowed by myoclonus, a condition that includes ongoing and involuntary muscle spasms, likely caused by the lack of oxygen her brain received while she was pinned under her car.

During most of her time in physical, occupational, speech and recreational therapy at Shepherd Center, Karla’s brain was still healing. There’s a lot she doesn’t remember from the six months she initially spent in 2017 in Shepherd Center’s Adolescent Brain Injury Rehabilitation Program and at Shepherd Pathways, the hospital’s comprehensive day and outpatient rehabilitation program for people recovering from brain injury.

But Karla returned to Shepherd Pathways in 2018 for another round of rehabilitation, commuting twice a week with her mom from Athens, Georgia, to continue working on her independence and using high-tech tools like the Lokomat® treadmill to condition her lower body to walk again. She also participated in Project Rollway, the hospital’s annual fashion show fundraiser that benefits adolescent rehabilitation programs at Shepherd Center.

“I still have my dress from that event,” Karla says. “A really good friend of mine rolled me down the runway. That was really fun, and I have lots of pictures from that event that I’m thankful for.”

Today, Karla is a third-year student at the University of Georgia. She’s majoring in exercise and sports science, and she will likely add either a minor or second major in nutrition. She’s been living at home with her parents, who both work at UGA, but hopes to move out in the next year and live independently.

Karla’s already well engaged in the campus community as a member of a sorority and as a member of UGA Food-2Kids, a student-run nonprofit that partners with the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia.

An athlete at heart who played soccer, swam and did gymnastics in high school, Karla continues to push herself in ongoing outpatient physical and occupational therapy in Athens.

“I’m doing really well now; it’s just a slow process to adjust to,” she says. “Before, I was athletic enough that if I stuck with something long enough, I could get pretty good at it, pretty fast. That’s how I thought rehab would go, but that’s not always the case. Especially with a brain injury, my mind is learning slower than my muscles are. So, I can’t do everything yet, but I’m on my way!”

Distraction-Free Driving

Karla also continues to spread her message about safe driving.

“You can live your life, but not at anyone else’s expense,” Karla says. “When you text and drive, it’s not just your life that can change. My experience changed so many other peoples’ lives, and I could have put someone else in physical danger. I didn’t, but I could have.

“I still have a pity party for myself from time to time, but I can’t imagine how I’d feel if I’d hurt somebody else in that accident.”

Karla’s message is something the care teams at Shepherd Center deeply appreciate.

“She’s such a great ambassador,” Dr. Dennison says. “We’re so honored to help patients like Karla through these really challenging situations. But she’s right. These situations are preventable. We certainly hope others hear her message and learn from it."

Written by Phillip Jordan

Scoot Safe’s two major goals are increasing awareness and protective factors for electronic scooter injury prevention and decreasing electric scooter-related deaths and injuries. The campaign targets the following key areas:

• Helmet use
• Drinking and riding
• Speeding
• First-time rider education

“Micromobility, which includes small, lightweight vehicles like e-scooters, has so much potential to create a more equitable and environmentally friendly commuting option,” Harrington says. “But, as we go forward, we have to ensure basic safety measures are in place like normalizing proper helmet use. That is what we hope to achieve with the Scoot Safe campaign – public awareness of the safety measures they can start implementing today.”

The campaign will include a series of engaging public service announcements with safety tips for scooters, targeted digital advertising and the ScootSafeGA.com website that houses more information about the project along with resources, graphics and content any person or organization can download and share.  

If you feel like people are going faster than ever on the roadways and are noticing more distracted drivers on the roads, you are not imagining it. In Georgia and nationwide, we are seeing a significant uptick in fatal crashes even though many of us continue to shelter in place and forgo our usual driving routine. With wide open highways and byways, speeding has increased dramatically, leading to more force being dispersed during a crash, resulting in catastrophic injuries and fatalities. Now more than ever, it is important to control what you can as a driver, paying particular attention to your teenage drivers.

At Shepherd Center, we have seen an increase in referrals due to motor vehicle crashes. In fact, the number of patients referred to Shepherd Center due to injuries caused by car, truck or motorcycle accidents in the fourth quarter of 2020 was 22% higher than the same period the year before. Of those, there was a 44% increase in the number of patients with brain injuries, with the number of patients referred for spinal cord injuries remaining flat. Finally, the number of patients referred under age 21 due to motor vehicle crashes was more than 50% higher than the same period the year prior.

Instead of fearing the roads, I encourage everyone to take some basic, life-saving precautions that can prevent you or your loved ones from becoming part of these statistics. Here are my top tips for staying safe while driving.

1. Always wear your seatbelt and insist that everyone in your car wear one too. Unrestrained passengers can become human projectiles during a crash.
2. Leave plenty of room in between your car and the car in front of you. While dangerous drivers may use the space to zip in and out of lanes, you will have enough lead time to stop if needed.
3. Never drive in between two tractor trailers.
4. Always pass on the left!
5. When passing big trucks, make sure you can see their mirrors and leave plenty of space. Eighteen-wheelers need a lot of time and space to come to a complete stop.
6. While it may be tempting to take advantage of a clear interstate at rush hour, stick to the speed limit.
7. Focus! Take away all distractions before driving and just drive. Now more than ever, it is nearly impossible to unplug. Use your driving time as the precious alone time you rarely get!
8. Keep an eye out for the super speeders and the lane hoppers and avoid them. There is nothing wrong with driving in the slow lane!
9. Use this time to give your teen driver plenty of practice, but plan your route accordingly to avoid high-speed situations. Slowly gain confidence and skills around the neighborhood during non-peak driving hours.
10. Utilize Shepherd’s free AutoCoach® app, a tool developed to guide parents in teaching safe driving practices to teenage drivers.

When e-scooters and micro-mobility devices rolled onto the scene a few years ago, they brought with them convenience and accessibility. Unfortunately, injuries, and in some cases, even fatalities, followed.

“Injuries related to e-scooter accidents more than tripled between 2014 and 2018, and there were four deaths in Atlanta alone in 2014,” says Emma Harrington, director of injury prevention and education at Shepherd Center. “While e-scooters do have their advantages, there needs to be more education on risk factors and safety related to this new mode of transportation.”

With that in mind, the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety has awarded Shepherd Center a one-year, $174,000 grant to launch and implement a statewide evidence-informed public education campaign on e-scooter safety. The campaign will focus on five risk factors leading to e-scooter injuries and fatalities.

“Evidence shows us the top five risk factors for scooter fatalities and injuries are not using helmets, scootering while under the influence, riding while underage, riding for the first time and speeding,” Harrington says. “A lack of education, low helmet compliance and little regulation are a cause for concern related to e-scooter crashes.”

The campaign will include public service announcements and an evidence-informed mass media campaign.

“Even the loss of one life on our roads is one too many, and the fact that almost all fatal traffic crashes can be prevented is one reason why we are awarding this grant,” says Allen Poole, Governor’s Office of Highway Safety Director Allen Poole. “The target of zero traffic deaths in our nation is achievable, and we will continue to help develop and implement educational messages and enforcement campaigns aimed at bringing our state one step closer to that goal.”

Before you Hit the Road

1. Check all your tires for air. If you have younger riders with you, show them how to check their own tires.

2. Bring extra safety equipment if you’re going riding out on a trail, including a first aid kit and extra tires.

3. If you have a child riding with you, make sure the child can comfortably reach the ground from his or her bike.

4. Make sure the wheels, seat and handlebars are tight. Also, doublecheck that the brakes work.

5. Ensure you have reflectors and lights. In some states, these are mandatory.

6. Check and oil your chain. If you have a child, show him or her how to re-hook the chain if it comes off.

7. Check the fit of your bike. If it is too big or too small for you, it will be harder to manage.

On the Road

1. Avoid riding bicycles at night.

2. Use lots of lights! The more lumens, the safer you are. At a minimum, have a red light for the back and a bright white light for the front. If they flash, even better!

3. Consider a smart helmet that has blinkers and brake lights.

4. Avoid the danger zone of riding next to parked cars with passengers who may suddenly open a door into your path and send you flying.

5. Watch out for potholes, cracks and speed bumps. Railroad tracks also can be dangerous.

6. Do not wear headphones while you are riding because you won’t be able to hear traffic or emergency sirens.

7. Know your hand signals for turning right, turning left and stopping.

8. Secure loose shoelaces and pant legs because they could get stuck in your chain.

9. Always ride in the same direction as traffic.

10. Be predictable for the bikers and drivers around you. Don’t take sudden turns, and remember to signal and stop as if you were driving a car.

11. Don’t bike distracted or under the influence. BUIs are real and expensive, but most of all, they’re dangerous.

12. Watch out for cars backing out of driveways and parking spaces.

13. Bike on the safest surface possible, including dedicated bike lanes and paths. Plan your ride to avoid dangerous intersections and high-speed roads if possible.

General Bike Rules

1. Helmets are an essential part of riding bicycles safely. Learn more about fitting helmets here.

2. Stay in control of your speed, and model good behavior for younger riders.

3. Pass on your left! Don’t scare or sneak up on pedestrians or other bikers.

4. If you need to stop, pull over and get out of the way of oncoming traffic.

5. Always walk your bike when crossing the road. Use clearly marked crosswalks so that drivers are expecting you.

6. You must obey all traffic laws. Do not creep up beside stopped cars to skip traffic and get to the front of the line.

Social distancing related to the COVID-19 pandemic is allowing families to reconnect with the great outdoors and find ways to explore areas close to them without getting too close to others. With far less traffic and fewer cars on the road, many families are dusting off their bikes, scooters and pull-along carriers to ride again. Take advantage of the increase in exercise and family time, but remember to stay safe. Here are some tips and reminders on how to properly fit helmets both for yourself and your little ones.

If you have a helmet already:

1. Do not wear a used helmet if you can avoid it. Of course, anything is better than nothing, but avoid this if you can. Helmets should be like shoes – fit specifically for your own head.

2. Check your helmet when dusting it off for dings, dents and deterioration. Deterioration can include the padding coming loose inside. Helmets with worn-out interior pads are at least one to two sizes bigger than when they were new.

3. Inspect the actual helmet for its labels. Check the manufacture date, and double-check to make sure it has not been recalled. Technically, helmets do not expire, but a good rule of thumb is to replace them every five years.

4. Has it been in a crash or sustained any damage due to trauma? If so – throw it out. Do not donate it because it is no longer safe to use, even if it physically looks fine. Check local resources because sometimes, you can recycle old helmets.

For a new helmet:

1. Measure the circumference of your child’s head. Oftentimes, you will have to order children’s helmets online to make sure you get the best available. Measure first, and go to a local store that may have a few options in stock. Try those on for fit if possible.

2. Do your research. There are plenty of online resources that will help you find the right helmet in your budget.

3. Brand sizing varies. The chart below shows the sample sizing numbers. Different brands use different molds – if possible, try before you buy, but always check the circumference measurements online.

4.In between sizes? Go with the smaller size. It is possible for your child to wear a small adult size and vice versa for the proper fit. Good helmets are expensive, and you will have to buy several of them as your child grows.

5. Your helmet should be on your head, not resting at the back of your skull or loose enough where you can shift it on your head by nodding. It always has to be strapped as well, but it should not be uncomfortable.

6. The front edge of your helmet should be about an inch above your eyebrows to protect the frontal lobe. Just like car seats, if your helmet shifts more than one inch in any direction, it is too loose.

7. Consider a brightly colored helmet to increase visibility. Consider using reflective tape to the back of the helmet for added visibility.

8. There are several certification bodies for helmets, the most rigorous being the Snell Foundation, an independent testing body. Do your research – not all helmets are created equal. Try to buy the best you can afford. Brands do matter here.

General sizing:

Extra small: below 20" (51cm)

Small: 20"–21.75" (51cm–55cm)

Medium: 21.75"–23.25" (55cm–59cm)

Large: 23.25"–24.75" (59cm–63cm)

Extra large: above 24.75" (63cm)

Three are three basic types of bike helmets: Road bikes, mountain bikes and recreational bike helmets. 

Getting the right fit:

1. Adjust the tightness first. Twist the adjustment wheel until you get a snug fit. This is called the rachet system or retention system.

2. Buckle and tighten the chin strap. The straps should form a V under each ear.

3. Open your mouth wide – it should be tight, but not uncomfortable. As you open your mouth, the helmet should press against the top of your head. Adjust accordingly if it does not. Keep tightening until it does.

4. You should be able to fit two fingers between the strap and your chin.

5. Be mindful of pressure points – if any part of the helmet feels uncomfortable or annoying, it is the wrong shape or size.

6. If you wear glasses or sunglasses with your helmet, make sure they also fit before you buy a helmet. The same logic applies for a ponytail. There are helmets created with specific ponytail accommodations called hair ports.

Check out this helmet fit test from Safe Kids Worldwide_®

New technology:

1. As new and better protection becomes available on the market, there is even more reason to replace and upgrade your old helmet.

2. There is new helmet technology available called the Multi-Directional Impact Protection System (MIPS). MIPS protects against rotational forces. Many children’s helmets have this feature available now. It is more expensive, but well worth the added protection.

3. WaveCel: Found on some Bontrager helmets, this technology features a honeycombed liner material that is engineered to create a sophisticated “crumple zone” that absorbs both primary impact forces and rotational energy from an impact.

4.SPIN: Found on POC helmets, Shearing Pads Inside (SPIN) technology features silicone-injected pads in a structure that moves inside the shell to redirect rotational forces during an impact.

5. If your child resists wearing a helmet, it may be because it is uncomfortable. Lighter, cooler helmets exist with more ventilation. These enhance the wind flow over your head, and also make the helmet a lot lighter.

Helmet care:

1. Do not store your helmet in a place that gets very hot because it may damage the integrity of the helmet. If you see bubbles on helmet parts, it has been damaged by heat. Do not wear it.

2. Do not loan your helmet out. You need to know where it has been and if it has had any major trauma, including being dropped. Treat your helmet like you would a car seat.

3. Avoid cleaning your helmet with chemicals because this could cause the helmet to disintegrate. Mild soap and water should work well.

Modeling and monitoring:

1. Modeling safe and proper helmet wearing starts with you. Model the behavior you want to see in your children, friends and family members. Have a strict rule that helmets are to be worn for anything on wheels – no exceptions. Children should wear a helmet while on their trike, balance bike, scooter or hoverboard. Set a good example early on by always wearing a helmet when your child rides on the back of your bike.

2. Make it one of your family’s big, non-negotiable rules. No exceptions – especially when riding in the carriers low to the ground!

Sources include: SafeKids Worldwide, Spirit Sports, Snell Foundation, Bike Exchange, REI Bike, CDC Bikes

EMMA HARRINGTON is the director of injury prevention and education services at Shepherd Center. Previously, Emma started the injury prevention program at Grady Memorial Hospital in the Trauma Department. She holds a master of education degree in international education policy from Harvard University. Originally from Boston, Emma is a licensed social studies teacher.

1. If you have children or grandkids visiting, ensure their car seats are correctly installed and up-to-date. Check the seat’s expiration date and for any manufacturer recalls. Children under 4’9” should be in a car seat or booster seat.
2. Have children under age 13 ride in the backseat at all times.
3. If you are traveling to colder climates:
   • Make sure your tires are properly inflated and have enough tread on them.
   • Keep kitty litter in your car in case you get stuck in snow and ice – it provides excellent traction.
   • Ensure you have an ice scraper and shovel in the trunk as well as extra blankets and flashlights in case you get stuck.
4. Try to travel during daylight hours and avoid late-night travel. Many crashes happen due to poor visibility and impaired drivers on the road after hours.
5. Always wear your seatbelt and insist your passengers do as well. Unbuckled passengers can become torpedoes upon impact.
6. Drive without distractions – even Bluetooth technology is enough to take your mind off of driving.
7. Avoid driving altogether by using public transportation or ride-sharing apps when possible, especially if you have indulged in a holiday drink or two.

Written by Emma Harrington and Damjana Alverson

Using data from the National Trauma Data Bank, researchers looked at information on 76,032 bicyclists who sustained head or neck injuries from 2002 to 2012. The research team, which is not affiliated with Shepherd Center and was led by Lagina Scott, M.D., a medical student in the class of 2017 of Charles R. Drew University of Medicine & Science, and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, also found that cyclists who chose to wear helmets were less severely injured, spent less time in the hospital, including in the intensive care unit, and were less likely to die as a result of their injuries.

“A helmet won’t always save you from a serious head injury if you’re in a bicycle versus car accident, or hit a pothole and are launched over the handlebars off your bike,” said Ford Vox, M.D., medical director of the Disorders of Consciousness Program at Shepherd Center and a board-certified physical medicine and rehabilitation physician with additional subspecialty board certification in brain injury medicine. “Unfortunately we’ve treated many cyclists who dutifully wore their helmets and still sustained a serious brain or spinal cord injury. But helmets save lives, and they can mean the difference between whether you’ll need brain surgery or not. It’s typically the unhelmeted riders who never make it home.”

The study also found that men are less likely than women to wear helmets at a rate of 21% to 28%. Data showed that men’s hospital stays after injury were longer than women’s, and the severity of their injuries were worse. Even fewer young cyclists wear helmets: Only 12% of cyclists under age 17 were wearing helmets when injured.

“Always wear a helmet, even on short rides, and encourage those you love to do the same,” said Emma Harrington, director of injury prevention and education services at Shepherd Center. “They can make a huge difference in the severity of injuries sustained.”

For more information on Shepherd Center's Injury Prevention Program, click here.

In a new podcast with Shepherd Center Radio, Emma Harrington, Shepherd Center’s Director of Injury Prevention Education, discusses how and where diving injuries occur, and how to prevent them.

Download the podcast as an audio file above, or access it at shepherd.org/radio.

Emma Harrington, MSPS, is the director of injury prevention and education services at Shepherd Center. Previously, Emma started the injury prevention program at Grady Memorial Hospital in the Trauma Department. She holds a master of education degree in international education policy from Harvard University. Originally from Boston, Emma is a licensed social studies teacher.

It’s a reminder of the support he received from his hometown of Inman, South Carolina, after sustaining a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a car crash in 2013.

The doctor who treated Andrew while he was in a coma at the Medical University of South Carolina Medical Center in Charleston, South Carolina, said his prognosis ranged from “Andrew 100 percent” to “he never wakes up.”

Family and friends chose the best-case scenario as their rally cry as they raised emotional and financial support through a Facebook page, T-shirts and stickers plastered throughout the town of 2,200 residents.

Andrew now steps into his home gym as a certified personal trainer. He’s also a year away from earning an associate’s degree at a community college, with plans to get his bachelor’s degree in communications.

Meanwhile, he speaks at high schools about making smart decisions around cars. Fidgety students become captivated by his story: He rode to a bar with a friend. For the trip home, he got in the passenger seat, even though the driver was impaired. Then, the car flipped, breaking virtually every bone in Andrew’s face and leaving him unconscious.

A month later, Andrew arrived at Shepherd Center for treatment in its Brain Injury Rehabilitation Program. He relearned the basics – eating, sleeping, talking and walking. He can’t remember everything from his two-month stay at Shepherd Center, but he remains grateful for Shepherd Center’s warm environment.

“In that humongous hospital, it was like being home in a small town,” he says. “Everybody knows everybody. Everybody experiences the same thing.”

Before his accident, Andrew worked on a BMW assembly line and served in the U.S. Navy Reserve. He doesn’t do either now, and he still faces memory and cognitive challenges. But he’s more content than ever – affecting people’s lives as a motivational speaker and personal trainer. He sees his future as an ongoing journey.

“I’m never going to stop learning as long as I’m on this earth,” he says. “I know that the Lord has a plan for me.”

Written by Drew Jubera

AutoCoach 2.0, which is available as a free download in the Apple App and Google Play stores, is customizable to provide expert guidance on how to teach new drivers with disabilities. It includes all of the original content from AutoCoach, with the addition of 12 extra content chapters addressing a number of issues including emotions, focus, prioritizing, reacting/reaction time, physical issues, understanding, wheelchair safety, vision, operating secondary controls and trunk/ balance issues.

The curriculum draws upon the decades of experience of Shepherd Center’s certified driver rehabilitation specialists (CDRS). These specialists have trained and evaluated thousands of drivers with physical and/or cognitive impairments, and are uniquely qualified to help parents teach teens with those conditions how to drive safely, said Emma Harrington, director of injury prevention and education at Shepherd Center.

“With motor vehicle crashes being one of the leading causes of death for teens in our country, it is our responsibility to provide parents with the tools they need to properly train our youngest drivers before they take to the roads,” said Harris Blackwood, director of the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. “AutoCoach 2.0 brings together all of the tools of AutoCoach with added inclusivity for drivers with physical and/or cognitive disabilities.”

Developed in partnership with GOHS and CapTech, AutoCoach is a first-of-its-kind smartphone app that helps parents teach safe driving to their teens. It uses a curriculum developed by Shepherd Center’s CDRS staff to instruct parents and other adults how to teach safe driving behaviors. Because most states require a specific number of hours of practice in various driving conditions before issuing a license, AutoCoach logs supervised driving hours under daytime and nighttime conditions. The app also is customizable by state based on each state’s requirements.

“We are excited to enable the technology to make AutoCoach more accessible to this important population,” said CapTech’s Atlanta office leader Boyd Christian. “Broadening the audience we serve plays a valuable role in keeping our highways safe.”

As a nationally ranked rehabilitation facility, Shepherd Center’s mission includes injury prevention, and the hospital is especially focused on preventing spinal cord and brain injuries related to motor vehicle crashes.

“A leading cause of these injuries is consistently motor vehicle crashes,” said Shepherd Center President and CEO Sarah Morrison. “We look forward to sharing our unique expertise via AutoCoach so, that together, we can work on reducing the number of teen motor vehicle crashes.”

Find more information at shepherd.org/auto-coach.

Set for release later this year, AutoCoach 2.0 will be customizable to provide expert guidance on how to teach new drivers with disabilities. The curriculum will drawn upon the decades of experience of Shepherd Center’s certified driver rehabilitation specialists (CDRS). These specialists have trained and evaluated thousands of drivers with physical and/or cognitive impairments, and are uniquely qualified to help parents teach teens with those conditions how to drive safely.

“With motor vehicle crashes being the leading cause of death for teens in our country, we must make sure our youngest drivers receive the proper training before they get behind the wheel,” said Harris Blackwood, director of the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. “Parents and other adult family members are key to providing and supporting proper training, and we’re excited to give them an easy-to-use tool right on their smartphones to help do that.”

Developed in partnership with GOHS and IT management consulting firm CapTech, AutoCoach is a first-of-its-kind smartphone app released in July 2017 that helps parents teach safe driving to their teens. It uses a curriculum developed by Shepherd Center’s certified driving experts to instruct parents and other adults how to teach safe driving behaviors. Because most states require a set number of hours of each before issuing a license, AutoCoach logs supervised driving hours under daytime and nighttime conditions. The app also is customizable by state based on each state’s requirements.

“This year, we are excited to enable the technology to bring AutoCoach to this important new population,” said CapTech Director Boyd Christian. “Enhancing the accessibility of this program plays a valuable role in keeping our highways safe.”

As a nationally ranked rehabilitation facility, Shepherd Center’s mission includes injury prevention, and the hospital is especially focused on preventing spinal cord and brain injuries related to motor vehicle crashes.“The number one cause of those injuries is consistently motor vehicle crashes,” said Shepherd Center President and CEO Sarah Morrison. “We look forward to sharing our unique expertise via AutoCoach so, that together, we can work on reducing the number of teen motor vehicle crashes.”

Find more information at shepherd.org/auto-coach.

1) When attending holiday events and parties please designate a driver or call an Uber or Lyft -- even if you only have one or two drinks.

2) When hanging outdoor lights, think twice about getting up on a ladder. Falls can have serious consequences and are the leading cause of death for people ages 65 and older.

3) If you MUST get up on a step stool to hang decorations, make sure it is sturdy and has a handle, with all safety bars in the locked position. If possible, have someone spot you. Do not stand on railings, chairs or tables to hang décor or to reach spots above your head. 

4) If you are on vacation in a tropical paradise, always enter water feet first. Never dive!

5) If sledding or snow tubing is on your holiday agenda, remember to sled feet first. Breaking a leg is far better than hitting your head.

6) Keep presents stashed completely under your tree and keep lighting cords out of the way to avoid trip hazards in the home.

7) If you plan on riding an off-road vehicle or ATV, remember that children under 16 should not be driving one for any reason. All drivers over 16 should take a safety course and wear a helmet whenever riding on an ATV.

8) If you will be bike or scooter riding over the holidays, make sure you wear your helmet and obey all traffic laws. Even if you are over 15 years of age, modeling the behavior you want to see in your kids is key to keeping everyone safe.

9) Buckle up – even when you’re in in the backseat or just going a short distance. Unbuckled passengers can become projectiles in a crash.

10) If you are going to go skiing or snowboarding, wear your helmet. It keeps you warm and safe!

11) If you are going on a road trip to see family, make sure to stock your car with emergency supplies, including water, non-perishable snacks, blankets, a shovel, reflective triangles, a first aid kit, a flashlight and extra batteries. Remember the kitty litter for tire traction in slick road conditions, especially if you are headed to colder climates!

More information about Shepherd Center's Injury Prevention Program is available here.

EMMA HARRINGTON is the director of injury prevention and education services at Shepherd Center. Previously, Emma started the injury prevention program at Grady Memorial Hospital in the Trauma Department. She holds a master of education degree in international education policy from Harvard University. Originally from Boston, Emma is a licensed social studies teacher.

Partnering with the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) and IT management consulting firm CapTech, Shepherd Center’s certified driver rehabilitation specialists and injury prevention experts used their specialized training to create AutoCoach, an innovative app that makes it easier for adults to effectively teach their teens to drive defensively and safely.

AutoCoach tracks training hours, as well as night driving hours, which in Georgia is a prerequisite for obtaining a driver’s license. The app’s curriculum is applicable in all 50 U.S. states. AutoCoach is available as a free download in the Apple App and Google Play stores.

“With motor vehicle crashes being the leading cause of death for teens in our country, we must make sure our youngest drivers receive the proper training before they get behind the wheel,” said Harris Blackwood, director of the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. “It has been a great pleasure to partner with Shepherd Center and CapTech in developing this first-of-its-kind, comprehensive driver’s education app that will help parents, grandparents and other adults provide training in a manner teens will be able to learn and use when they begin driving on their own.”

Features of AutoCoach’ include a customizable parent-teen agreement, a graduated driver’s licensing quiz by state, distraction notifications, a driving log and a 10-chapter curriculum for parents based on best practices.

Those chapters cover basic topics, such as adjusting mirrors, seats and tire pressure, and the difference between double yellow and dotted yellow lines, as well as complex driving skills, such as merging onto crowded highways, driving around 18-wheelers and safely recovering from an overcorrection.

Some parents might choose to spend very little time on the most basic chapters and spend more time teaching more complex skills, said Emma Louise Harrington, MSPS, Ed.M., director of injury prevention and education at Shepherd Center. And that’s fine.

“Some kids already know the very basics and their parents are comfortable with their teens knowledge of those,” Harrington said. “But in the more complex chapters, it’s a good refresher for the parents, but vital that teens learn these things.”

Harrington acknowledged that AutoCoach is a time commitment for parents, but she believes once parents weigh the time commitment against the risks, it’ll be an easy decision.

“It will save somebody’s teenaged son or daughter his or her life,” Harrington said. “We’re confident the curriculum is so precise and so needed on our roads, that it will prevent many teenager-related accidents.”

Teens are a particularly vulnerable population on U.S. roadways because of their inexperience and risky driving tendencies. In Georgia, between 2013 and 2015, drivers ages 16 and 17 had the highest licensed-driver fatality rate among all motor vehicle crashes. And drivers ages 16 to 19 are three times more likely to die in a car crash than older, more experienced drivers.

Pierre St. Brice, 18, of Winston, Georgia, wishes AutoCoach had been available to the family of a 16-year-old who crossed a center lane in December 2015 and crashed into the car in which St. Brice was a passenger.

The 16-year-old was using the social media app Snapchat while driving, authorities later told St. Brice. That driver died on the scene. St. Brice, a highly regarded football recruit, sustained a T-12 spinal cord injury, paralyzing him from the waist down.

“I’d just been offered a chance to play at Stanford,” St. Brice said. “Now, if I see someone driving distracted, all I can do is pray for them.”

The need for AutoCoach is well documented. Studies show that one of the most protective factors against teenage injuries and fatalities due to car crashes are parents who model, monitor and enforce safe driving practices, Harrington noted. But rarely are parents and guardians trained in how to teach their teen to safely operate and maintain an automobile, she added.

The AutoCoach curriculum was developed by Shepherd Center’s certified driver rehabilitation specialists (CDRS), who specialize in adaptive equipment and vehicles, and are often trained as occupational therapists.

CapTech provided the Apple and Android planning and development of the AutoCoach App. “Leveraging the latest smartphone technology to improve driver safety aligns well with CapTech’s values,” says Boyd Christian, CapTech’s Atlanta office lead. “We are combining the best in education content and the best in driving log accuracy to deliver a beautiful user experience that will prevent future injuries.”

RESOURCES:

Learn more at shepherd.org/auto-coach.

Download or listen to our podcast from the file posted above or at Shepherd Center Radio.

Download our AutoCoach postcard and flyer above.

NEWS MEDIA CONTACTS:

Jane Sanders, Shepherd Center, 404-350-7707, jane_sanders@shepherd.org

Tony Wilbert, Wilbert Public Relations Company, 404-260-6440, twilbert@wilbertcompany.com

Emily Krause, CapTech, 804,545-8733, ekrause@captechconsulting.com

Fortunately, studies have shown that one of the most protective factors against teenage morbidity and mortality due to car crashes are parents who model, monitor and enforce safe driving practices. With that in mind, the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) and Shepherd Center’s Injury Prevention Program have teamed up to create an innovative drivers education mobile app targeting parents.

GOHS has given a grant to Shepherd Center – to be implemented from October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017 – of $175,000 to write a driving curriculum that will be transformed into an easy-to-use app available on both iPhone and Android platforms. The app will include step-by-step lessons that start with basics – checking tire pressure, positioning mirrors – to more complicated maneuvers, such as driving around big trucks and merging onto highways. The app will track the number of hours spent driving together and the weather conditions present, to ensure that teens are completing their required 40 hours of supervised instruction. The app, which is slated for release mid-2017, will include information on driver training requirements for all U.S. states.

The main objective for the grant is to increase compliance with graduated drivers licensing (GDLs) laws by educating parents. The app will review and quiz both parties on GDLs and have a customizable driving agreement to set limitations and expectations from the start. Additionally, the app will include lessons on inattention blindness and distracted driving. 

“Our goal is to meet young drivers and parents where they are, and an app does exactly that,” says Emma Harrington, Shepherd Center’s director of injury prevention and education. “Using a technology they’re already familiar with, we can ensure our youth are learning the skills required to be safe on the road."

For more information, contact Emma Harrington or visit shepherd.org/injuryprevention.

Courtney first explained what happened to her on October 23, 2010. Back then, she was an 18-year-old college freshman, driving to her part-time job, when she looked down to text a message on her phone. The next sound Courtney heard was gravel grinding as she veered off road. The resulting one-car accident left Courtney with a T-3-to-T-4 spinal cord injury, as well as a minor traumatic brain injury and an assortment of broken bones.

“As I shared my story that first time, I realized that I really had two messages to share,” she says. “One, of course, is that texting and driving is always a really bad idea. But, two, just as important, is that you can always come back from anything you’ve done, you can always overcome what seems most difficult.”

Courtney has now spoken at more than a dozen schools and churches in northeast Arkansas. She says her own comeback began at Shepherd Center.

“Growing up in a small town, I didn’t know anybody like me, anybody who’d been paralyzed,” Courtney says. “I figured I’d have to go sit in a nursing home.”

The relentless positivity and encouragement she received from her physical and occupational therapists transformed Courtney’s assumptions. By the end of her six-month stay at Shepherd Center – she completed both inpatient and day program rehabilitation – Courtney had largely regained her independence.

Back home, Courtney earned an associate’s degree in education, and a certificate in coding and billing. Today, she is a patient accounts representative at a local hospital. She also spends time outdoors, having fallen in love with kayaking during one of Shepherd Center’s annual Adventure Skills Workshops. She’d like to try skydiving and open-mic comedy next.

“Before my accident, my mom would tell people who asked about me that she had no idea how I was doing because I was never home,” Courtney says with a laugh. “Now, she can say that again!”

Written by Phillip Jordan
Photos by Dara Bramel/DB Photography

When Clark’s mother, Mariellen Jacobs, asked him if he could have fallen out of his bed, Clark responded that he thought he might have, pointing out a sore spot on the back of his head.

His dad looked at him. There was no broken skin, no blood, no bruising anywhere.

And then came the clincher.

“My bunk curtains were on the floor,” Clark told them.

At the hospital, it was discovered that Clark’s brain was bleeding, requiring emergency surgery. Even with the operation, there was a chance he would not survive. Clark spent the next two and a half months fighting for his life, minimally conscious, while also battling infections and blood clots.

Clark doesn’t remember any of this. He doesn’t remember falling. He doesn’t remember waking up. He doesn’t remember going to the hospital or doing inpatient therapy at the Shepherd Center. He only remembers being at home four months later, doing physical therapy and talking to his mom about how unbelievably common his type of accident is.

“I kept doing research online and seeing this number: 36,000,” Mariellen recalls. “That’s how many kids per year are injured in bunk and loft beds. These are largely preventable injuries that are bad enough for them to go to the ER, kids of all ages. But there’s a big spike between the ages of 18 and 21 – the prime college years.”

When Mariellen talked with the University System of Georgia (USG) about their policy on providing rails for bunk or loft beds, she was surprised to learn that there really was no universal policy regarding rails. She then talked with Sandra Neuse, associate vice chancellor for development and administration for USG. Neuse agreed to survey each campus’ policy and found vastly different arrangements. Some provide rails free of charge, and some don’t have them. The University of Georgia puts them on all beds, while Georgia Tech charges $25 per semester for them.

To educate students and parents about the need for rails, Mariellen and Clark started a nonprofit organization, Rail Against the Danger (RAD). They also are working with USG to provide free access to bed railings at all public colleges and universities in Georgia.

“Let’s be honest," Mariellen says. "Kids that age are risk takers, so if a student doesn’t want to have one, they’ll just remove it. So we’re approaching this as an awareness campaign, rather than as a requirement.”

More than a year and a half after his injury, Clark wants college students to know that one small step can prevent a catastrophic injury.

“I would say I know it seems really silly, but rails on your lofted bed or bunk bed could save your life,” Clark says. “It's not worth the risk.”

Clark and Mariellen are busy printing posters and flyers to send to college campuses. They also created a public service announcement, a Facebook page and a website.

“Our goal is to spread awareness on every college campus in Georgia, and hopefully beyond the state, to highlight the danger of sleeping in bunk and loft beds,” Mariellen says. “Students need to protect themselves and not take the chance.”

They continue to work with Neuse to further spread awareness and develop solutions. This past spring, Neuse suggested that students would be more willing to use the rails if they were perceived as less of a safety feature and more integrated into the design of the bed. With that in mind, Mariellen approached Georgia Tech President Bud Peterson. With his support, the university is now considering making it a Capstone project where students design a bed with a built-in rail and safe ladder, build a prototype and present their designs to manufacturers as part of a class.

More than a year after his injury, Clark continues his rehabilitation in Shepherd Center’s Beyond Therapy^® program.

“When I went to Beyond Therapy^®, I was walking with a cane all the time, shaky, barely able to make it around,” Clark says. “And now I'm walking for, literally, miles with nothing, and that's a humongous leap forward. They kicked my butt for three hours at a time. It's crazy, but the results are so real.”

Clark is heading back to Georgia Tech this August to study for his mechanical engineering degree and has just re-entered Shepherd Pathways, Shepherd Center’s outpatient brain injury program, three days a week to help him prepare to go back to school.

“Clark is very fortunate to be here,” Mariellen says. “He's a miracle, and I can't say enough about how Shepherd Center helped. People say to me, ‘Is it really as good as they say?’ And I say ‘No, it’s way better than you can ever possibly imagine.’”

Click here to learn more about Rail Against the Danger.

Written by David Terraso
Photos by Phil Skinner

Their pontoon boat was approaching the shore at Lake Keowee, S.C., too fast. Someone had to get into the lake and slow it down. Joe, a sophomore at Clemson University, had been a high school competitive swimmer who set records in the freestyle and butterfly events. He’d been diving into water most of his life, and he did so again.

But the water was only three feet deep.

“I remember hitting my head in the sand,” Joe says. “It didn’t really hurt, but when I tried to swim I had no feeling in my extremities. I was drowning.”

Joe was pulled from the water by his roommate and rushed to Greenville Memorial Hospital, where he had surgery for a C-5 fracture and spinal cord injury. Two weeks later, he arrived at Shepherd Center for rehabilitation.

Preventing diving injuries like Joe’s has become a passion for Herndon Murray, M.D., a consulting orthopedist and longtime Shepherd Center physician. At one point during the summer of 2011, 11 young men were being treated at the same time for diving injuries.

“I saw all those kids and, frankly, I saw in them as my grandchildren,” Dr. Murray says. “If one of my grandsons broke his neck diving, and I know what I know and had not transferred that information to him, I’d never get over it.”

Statistics compiled by Shepherd Center indicate that diving is the fourth leading cause of paralyzing spinal cord injuries. Eighty-nine percent of those injured are males, and 92 percent of them are between the ages of 10 and 39.

Diving injuries increase in March and April, peak in July and taper off in the fall. And, as Dr. Murray says, "They are 100 percent preventable. Don’t dive!"

But changing perceptions about diving isn’t easy. Children learning to swim learn to dive, and the media abound with images of people diving, an activity that symbolizes fun, celebration and freedom.

“That freedom can be gone in a nanosecond,” Dr. Murray says. “One mother told me her son was just beginning to assert his independence, and now, he’s totally dependent on her for his daily care.”

Dr. Murray says parents should tell their children, “‘Buckle your seatbelt in the car, wear a helmet when you ride a bike and when you swim, go in feet first.’ Break a leg, not your neck. A single dive can change your life forever.”

Joe Bailey’s injury forced him to withdraw from Clemson, where he had a 3.56 grade point average in chemical engineering. He undergoes intense rehabilitation therapy several hours daily at Shepherd Center with the goal of becoming as independent as possible. He is determined to walk again and to finish his degree. Still, he is dealing with the grief from his loss of function.

“I’m not going to sugar-coat it,” Joe says. “Sometimes, I’m distraught from fear of the unknown. I’ll look out the window and wish I could walk out of the room. I can’t feed myself. I can’t brush my teeth, and I can’t use the bathroom unassisted. I can’t move my legs or arms or wrists. The freedom I had to do what I wanted and took for granted – I don’t have that now. That eats away at me. I’m so young. There’s so much I want to do, and I can’t do it because of a diving injury.”

As for warning others about diving, he says: “Kids my age tend not to listen. When they see someone in a wheelchair, they don't think it can happen to them. I honestly think the most convincing thing would be for them to see me in therapy. Life can change in a split second. I urge them to listen."

For more information about Shepherd Center’s Injury Prevention Program, visit shepherd.org/injuryprevention.

Written by John Christensen
Photos and Video by Gary Meek
Video Editing by Cameron McBride

Distracted driving has increasingly become a cause of motor vehicle crashes. The prevalence of smart phones and a culture of constant social connection has created a deadly combination with motor vehicles.

One out of 10 drivers on the road is using their phone for something – making them four times more likely to crash. Distracted driving includes texting and answering emails, talking on the phone, eating, applying makeup and even, changing the music on a portable electronic device.

At Shepherd Center, we have created a list of tips to help you stay focused behind the wheel and a poster campaign you can use to raise awareness about distracted driving in your school, hospital or other community organization.

TOP 10 TIPS TO AVOID DISTRACTED DRIVING

1. Out of sight, out of mind:  Put the phone on vibrate or silent and put it where you can’t see it while driving. This will reduce your urge to answer calls or read texts and emails. Cover it with your purse; put it in the glove compartment – whatever you have to do. Just get it out of sight!

2. What’s the opposite of multi-tasking? It’s PAYING ATTENTION! Start thinking of the car as a place to accomplish one simple thing – driving. You may be surprised to find that driving becomes much less stressful when you give the task at hand your full attention.

3. Plan ahead:  Set your music to play, make phone calls and send texts before you start the car. If you need to use GPS, use a voice command version and set it up in advance. If you get lost, pull over to a safe location and get your bearings. Looking at a map application while you’re driving is just as bad, if not worse, than texting!

4. Buckle up! This should go without saying, but always, always, always wear your seatbelt. Most accidents happen very close to home and there’s no safe distance to ride in the car without a seatbelt.

5. Block it out:  If you just can’t resist the call of the smart phone, consider call-blocking technology. There are a number of free applications you can use to disarm your text and phone functions while you’re in the car. You’ll have to discipline yourself to use them, but they may help you as you try to develop better habits.

6. Change expectations:  Make it clear to friends and family that you are not willing to drive distracted, which means they should not expect to talk to you while you’re driving. Change your outgoing voicemail message to say “I’m either away from the phone or I’m driving. I’ll call you back as soon as I’m safely able to do so.”

7. Work it out:  If you must drive a lot for work, add in time to your schedule to make and receive calls at your last location or in the parking lot before you start driving. Stop thinking of the car as an extension of the office, unless it’s in park. It may be more challenging to get work done, but not nearly as challenging as a car accident would be. Enjoy having some time in the car to yourself.

8. Take advantage:  Allow passengers to make calls or send texts for you. Simple!

9. Pay it forward:  Don’t expect others to respond to texts, emails or calls while they’re driving. If you realize that someone you’ve called is driving, insist on ending the conversation until they’re no longer behind the wheel.

10. Don’t give up! As with any bad habit, you may find it difficult to change your mobile device behavior in the car. If you find yourself backsliding, reread these tips and hit the mental reset button. Think of all the reasons you have to arrive safely. Help change the culture of distracted driving so that focused, attentive driving becomes the norm.

More information about Shepherd Center's Injury Prevention Program is available here.

EMMA HARRINGTON is the director of injury prevention and education services at Shepherd Center. Previously, Emma started the injury prevention program at Grady Memorial Hospital in the Trauma Department. She holds a master of education degree in international education policy from Harvard University. Originally from Boston, Emma is a licensed social studies teacher.

The client must work extremely hard in therapy, pushing his or her body and mind to their limits. But as former patient Bobby Fenner proves, the family’s role is just as crucial. They act as advocates, as well as being a steady support system to help their family member understand his limitations so he can work to overcome them.

For Bobby and his family, Aug. 9, 2015 seemed like a regular day. His wife, Karen, had gone to the grocery store, while Bobby and his adult sons, Dylan and Codi, remained at home.

“I put a ladder in the back of my house to change out a flood light,” Bobby says. “That was the last thing I remember.”

“My son, Dylan, was inside in the kitchen and saw my husband fall off the ladder and came running out to find him on the ground unconscious, having seizures,” Karen recalls. “They already had him in an ambulance on the way to the hospital before they called me.”

Bobby spent the next 11 days at metro Atlanta’s Gwinnett Medical Center, where he was in the brain trauma unit.

“They were amazing,” Karen says. “They later told us they didn’t know if he was going to live or die.”

Bobby had sustained multiple fractures in his skull, lost his sense of smell and developed some hearing loss. His memory was lost for a time, and he was confused to the point of not knowing where he was or what he was doing.

Karen advocated to transfer him to Shepherd Center, where he stayed for nearly a month before moving to Shepherd Pathways, the hospital’s post-acute brain injury rehabilitation program in nearby Decatur, Ga., for a host of therapies, including physical, occupational and speech.

“Initially, the family support was critical,” says Kathleen Kurtz, case manager at Shepherd Pathways. “In the hospital setting, you have a 24-hour level of care, so when they leave the hospital setting and they go home, it’s a whole new world. They did a fantastic job of making sure Bobby’s needs were met.”

It wasn’t easy. At first, Bobby didn’t know why he was in therapy. He didn’t understand his limitations and why they were asking him to go to therapy. This is a common issue in people with brain injuries.

“He was always very cooperative, so he would do what the therapist asked, but you could see he didn’t really like what people were asking him to do,” Kurtz says. “He didn’t really have a good understanding of what had happened to him, therefore we were asking him to do things to treat deficits he didn’t even realize he had.”

Bobby has a harsher take on it.

“I think I was vulgar, used a lot of profanity,” Bobby says. “I do laugh about it now, and I get reminded daily from my wife how I was.”

As time passed, Bobby’s awareness improved. His therapists focused on building his cognitive endurance. They developed a daily routine for him. They worked on his planning, problem-solving, organizational and prioritization skills, which were essential if he was going to go back to work at Caterpillar.

His Shepherd Pathways team credits both Bobby and his family for his recovery.

“I think he had one of the fastest recoveries that I’ve seen,” says speech-language pathologist Ariella Kaplan. “I think a big part of that is what he did at home. If they carry over the skills that we teach to the home environment, that makes a huge difference.”

Kurtz agrees.

“As Bobby recovered, the family did a really good job of pulling back when they were supposed to,” Kurtz says. “That can be very difficult for families to do. They surround the patient, because they love their family member and want to care for them. And then, as that patient gets better, family needs to pull back and let the patient experience more independence. And they did it.”

The freedom and responsibility is something Bobby says he craves.

“I showed them that I had the drive and the initiative to do what I needed to do to move on with my life,” Bobby says. “And I haven’t lost that since the accident.”

He’s been back at his job for the past couple of months as a field technician for Caterpillar. He’ll soon take a driving test to see if he can get back on the road.

“Everything from Shepherd Center to Shepherd Pathways is a gift that they have given me,” Bobby says. “I always look forward to going back and seeing everybody and showing them my progress. It’s a gift every day to be able to come back and show them what a pain in the butt I am.”

Here are some links to some helpful resources:

Shepherd Center Ramps Up its Fall Prevention Efforts Statewide

Shepherd Center Resources on Injury Prevention

Tai Chi for Fall Prevention

By David Terraso
 

Falls among these patients can occur because patients experience weakness, confusion, impulsivity, impaired safety awareness, and poor judgment and reasoning. They may also have uncontrollable spasms or movements that increase the risk of sliding out of a bed or a chair. Also, assisted falls may occur when a patient with limitations is learning new ways of moving and attempting to rebuild strength and endurance.

Strategies to prevent falls among these patients can be simple, but effective. Shepherd Center uses bed alarms on all brain-injured patients, seatbelt alarms, one-on-one attendants and frequent rounding on patients. Also, leadership engages staff members in maintaining a culture that recognizes the high risk of falls requires a high sense of urgency in responding to alarms, and that safety has to be more important than privacy for the brain-injured patient.

In a new 10-minute podcast from Shepherd Center Radio, Brain Injury Unit nursing manager Gail Greene, RN, BSN, CRRN, explains how Shepherd Center uses an interdisciplinary, collaborative approach to teaching and reinforcing the use of these strategies. The podcast is available as a download on this page or at Shepherd Center Radio.

Greene has been the nursing unit manager of the Acquired Brain Injury Program at Shepherd Center since 2007. She has practiced nursing for 39 years and has been a rehabilitation nurse since 1994 and a nursing manager since 2000. Greene is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, School of Nursing and earned her Certification in Rehabilitation Nursing (CRN) in 1998.

For more information on fall prevention, brain injury causes, and other patient and healthcare professional education topics, visit MyShepherdConnection.org.

It’s hand-sculpted from papier mâché, plaster and duct tape, and spray-painted metallic brown to match the other busts. And it’s a pretty good likeness of longtime Shepherd Center physician Herndon Murray, M.D., from his wire-rim glasses to his trademark bowtie.

The bust was a personal tribute crafted by Josh “Tater” Inglett, one of Dr. Murray’s patients from Shepherd’s adolescent spinal cord injury rehabilitation program. When Josh learned that the medical director of orthopedics and head of the spinal cord injury (SCI) adolescent program didn’t have a bust, he took it upon himself to make one.

“That’s illustrative of the adolescent program,” Dr. Murray says. “You never know what to expect.”

The artistic tribute exemplifies the bond Dr. Murray has with the teen-agers who come and go in the program he helped build – a program that has grown from a few patients to two full teams of five teens occupying their own floor. While Dr. Murray handed the reins of the program to Anna Choo Elmers, M.D., in 2015, he still makes orthopedic consultations at Shepherd Center.

Stories of the pranks played on him during his tenure still make the rounds. Just before operating on a young man, he was surprised to find a message written on the patient’s back in black marker instructing him to “do a good job.” Another time, he walked into the teen therapy area to find a patient drinking from a handheld urinal with a straw. The young man, knowing that Dr. Murray was on his way to the area, had put apple juice into the urinal.

“Working with kids is magnificent,” Dr. Murray says. “They go through something horrible when they get hurt and initially are in a state of shock. But before you know it, they start acting like teen-agers again.”

Dr. Murray has been with Shepherd Center since it opened in 1975. He was an associate (and friend) of David Apple, M.D., the first medical director of Shepherd Center, in an orthopedic practice. After Dr. Apple left the practice to lead Shepherd Center’s medical program, he invited Dr. Murray to run orthopedics at the hospital.

“Dr. Murray had just returned from completing a spinal surgery fellowship at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center at the University of Southern California, and I figured we would be a good team,” Dr. Apple recalls. “Because he could perform surgery on SCI patients, we could get them mobilized earlier, which was key to getting good results, as well as preventing further complications. He was an important addition to our staff.”

Colleagues say Dr. Murray has a reserved quality that can sometimes be a little intimidating.

“You had to really know your stuff if you were on his team,” recalls Cheryl Linden, LPC, OT/L, an occupational therapist and the counselor on the adolescent team. She has worked with Dr. Murray for 28 years. “He expected nothing but the best from you, but he also had the utmost respect for his team.”

One thing people may not know about Dr. Murray is that he can name the mascot of every high school in Georgia, which helped him connect with his young patients right away, Cheryl notes. “And nothing made him happier than when former patients returned to Shepherd Center to see him and were leading happy, successful lives,” she adds.

Beyond treating injuries, Dr. Murray has worked to prevent them from happening in the first place, most notably spearheading a campaign to caution teens about diving. “A few years ago, we had a 14-year-old girl who was injured after diving,” he recalls. “She was crying, saying, ‘If I just hadn’t taken that dive, it would be OK.’ Most people don’t realize that a single dive can change a life. I knew we had to do something.”

The campaign consisted of posters, ads and messages on social media, as well as testimonials from teen-agers who had been injured in diving accidents. The effort has paid off. In 2011, Shepherd Center treated 28 patients injured in diving accidents; three years later, that number was down to 10, and in 2015, there were no Georgia patients injured in diving accidents.

“Any time you can keep one kid from being paralyzed, it’s worth it,” Dr. Murray says. “Diving injuries are preventable.”

Looking back on his long career, he says: “I’m most proud of the success of the adolescent program and the relationships that have grown out of it. I think the adolescent team is one of the things that sets Shepherd Center apart from other rehabilitation programs.”

Dr. Apple adds: “Dr. Murray contributed so much to this hospital early on and has continued to do so. It was a comfort to know he was up there to handle the spinal surgeries, and he was always looking for ways to be better and improve upon what he was doing. It’s been a pleasure to work with him.”

Written by Sara Baxter

Autumn is one of my favorite times of the year. It is the start of football season, leaves are turning and temperatures become more tolerable. It is also the perfect time to enjoy the great outdoors!

In the Southeast alone, there are numerous recreation opportunities, including camping, kayaking, fishing, ATV riding and hunting, to name a few. Regardless of your favorite outdoor recreation activity, preparing for our ever-changing weather is one of the most important factors to consider when it comes to preventing accidents or injuries this fall.

The numbers

From 1999 to 2011, there were 16,911 deaths directly related to exposure to excessive natural cold, according to the CDC. Temperatures do not need to be excessively cold to warrant risk. Individuals exposed to temperatures less than 60 degrees Fahrenheit for extended periods of time have shown early signs of hypothermia.

What is hypothermia?

Hypothermia – the lowering of one’s body temperature to less than 95 degrees Fahrenheit – can be recognized early on by multiple common symptoms.

Recognize the symptoms of hypothermia:

1. Shivering
2. Numbness
3. Fatigue
4. Poor coordination
5. Slurred speech
6. Impaired mental state

Regardless of the severity of outside temperatures, clothing choice is one of the easiest modifiable factors influencing hypothermia.

Choose the right clothing.

When choosing the appropriate clothing to wear in cool weather situations, there are a few factors to consider:

• Choose clothing that will be appropriate for the outside temperature.
• Choose clothing based on the level of activity.
• Take into consideration the likelihood of precipitation in the area, as well as the wind chill.
• Layer, layer layer! Layering clothing is the most effective way to accommodate changes in activity level and weather conditions, and it will ensure that you are able to maximize your time outside while remaining safe.

Tips for layering:

• Base Layer: Choose garments with moisture-wicking capabilities as your base layer.
• Insulating Layer: Add an insulating layer.
• Waterproof Layer: Finish with either an additional insulating layer or a waterproof layer.

Layering examples for the body

Core – Insulated base layer (preferably polypropylene), shirt (quilted or wool, if necessary), wool sweater, vest.

Legs – Insulated base layer (preferably polypropylene), wool pants.

Feet – Polypropylene socks, boot socks, insulated boots, boot blanket.

Face – A full-face, moisture-wicking cap, such as a balaclava that can be worn either as a hat or pulled down to cover the face, if necessary.

Gloves – Thinsulate™ insulated gloves, which are water repellent, are available in many varieties. Tip! Mittens are better than gloves for heat retention.

Coat or Coveralls – Add, if necessary.

Although there will never be a perfect solution for any weather scenario, proper clothing, experimentation, and common sense will keep you safe and comfortable in cold weather.

Remember to keep heat in and move moisture away from your body. Stay out of the wind and recreate in the sunshine. It all adds up to staying safe and maximizing outdoor fun in cold weather.

For information on recreation therapy and adapted sports opportunities at Shepherd Center, visit shepherd.org/recreation.

CHRIS RAVOTTI, CTRS, is an outdoor specialist in the recreation therapy program at Shepherd Center. He holds a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Georgia and a certification in recreational therapy from the National Council on Therapeutic Recreation Certification. Chris has been working as a recreational therapist at Shepherd Center since 2006, during which he has gained experience in spinal cord and brain injury and multiple sclerosis treatment. In addition to Chris’ professional duties, he is on the national board of directors for a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to provide accessible outdoor recreation opportunities for people of all abilities. Chris can be reached at chris_ravotti@shepherd.org.

There is no cure for spinal cord injury, nor is there an FDA-approved therapeutic or device that can restore function. But researchers are working toward these goals, and more research dollars are needed to continue that work.

For now, people who sustain a spinal cord injury receive acute care in trauma hospitals and then typically undergo rehabilitation, which can help to restore some function and independence. Early, comprehensive rehabilitation – such as what Shepherd Center provides – yields the best outcomes.

In a new, 10-minute podcast on Shepherd Center Radio, physician Anna Choo Elmers, M.D., discusses spinal cord injury rehabilitation, research under way across the nation and efforts to prevent spinal cord injuries, especially those caused by distracted driving, falls and diving.

This podcast and others are available at shepherd.org/news/radio or can be downloaded as an MP3 file from the link above. A transcript of the interview is also available on the Shepherd Center Radio web page.

Dr. Elmers first worked at Shepherd Center as an Emory University resident in 2006. She officially joined as a staff physiatrist in July 2009 in the Spinal Cord and Brain Injury programs. Upon completing medical school at the George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C., she moved to Atlanta to complete her residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation at Emory University, where she served as chief resident in her final year. As part of her residency, she worked at Shepherd Center, Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Children’s Hospital at Scottish Rite, Emory Sports and Spine, Emory Center for Rehabilitation Medicine and Wesley Woods. Before completing medical school, Dr. Elmers received her juris doctorate from the University of San Diego School of Law, following which she practiced for a couple years in California. She is licensed to practice law in the state of California.

It only takes once for something to go wrong. At his Decatur, Ga., apartment complex, William sustained an incomplete fracture of his C-3 vertebra and damaged an artery when he dove head first into a five-feet-deep pool.

“My hands dove under me,” William recalls. “I don’t know why, but I couldn’t brace myself, and my head hit bottom. I heard a snap and knew I’d broken my neck. All I had was my left hand flapping.”

Just 22 days after transferring to Shepherd Center from Atlanta’s Grady Memorial Hospital, where he had surgery to fuse vertebrae and mend the artery, William graduated from Shepherd’s inpatient rehabilitation program this morning.

Yet, he’ll head home as a cautionary tale.

Data compiled by the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center indicates there are about 12,500 spinal cord injuries (SCIs) per year in the United States, and sports are the fourth-leading cause behind vehicle accidents, falls and violence.

Diving accounts for about two-thirds of all sports-related SCIs, and males sustain 89 percent of those diving-related SCIs. Of them, 45 percent befall those between ages 20 to 29, and 36 percent occur in pools. About 34 percent happen in the ocean, often when a person dives into a wave and is pressed to the floor.

Most diving-related SCIs occur between Memorial Day and Labor Day. So, Shepherd Center has launched a diving injury prevention campaign this summer.

“The simple message is always to go feet first,” says Emma Harrington, MSPS, Ed. M, director of injury prevention and education at Shepherd Center. “Diving is never worth the risk.”

“We’re targeting public service announcements (PSA) to those going on beach vacations, and people doing online searches for those trips will find a PSA that will lead to our website for more information,” Harrington explains.

Meanwhile, William knows he is one of the fortunate ones among those who are injured while diving. Most sustain permanently disabling SCIs. With this perspective, he says: “The safest dive is the dive you don’t take. I’m going to live by that.”

William’s recovery is promising. He has resumed walking and has considerable strength and function in his left hand and arm, with the right side catching up.

William has received enormous support from family, friends and young men he’s mentored as a coach for St. Pius X Catholic High School’s middle school basketball program. This support has helped him remain positive throughout his rehabilitation.

“William has a great attitude,” says Anna Elmers, M.D., his physician at Shepherd Center. “He’s a coach, so he’s willing to work hard. He was extremely fortunate and blessed. We’re talking a couple more millimeters, and he would have had a very serious SCI.”

William’s treatment team at Shepherd Center has been attentive and encouraging, he says, and his parents, Bonnie and Gary Wolf of Atlanta, were ever-present at the hospital for weeks before they took a long-planned vacation abroad.

“As soon as I got to Shepherd Center, [co-founder] Alana Shepherd was bed-side,” William says. “She told me it was her 85^th birthday. That was special. Grady saved my life, and Shepherd is helping put it back together like glue, and my doc’s name is Elmers – which makes glue.

“The nurses have been really nice, engaged,” he adds. “My physical therapist, Ashley Johnson, has so much energy. She’s kicked my butt. She believes in me, that I can have a full recovery. My occupational therapist, Patty Antcliff – I call the two of them ‘Pash’ – she does a lot of deep tissue massage, and has helped me with skills to dress and feed myself. They really push.”

William has come a long way since his roommate and best friend, Emily Sutlive, joined him at the pool on May 30 before his accident.

“She thought I was kidding as I was yelling,” William says of his terror-filled moments of struggle in the pool. “I thought, ‘This is how I’m going to die. I’m going to drown in front of my best friend.’ I felt horrible for her. She finally dragged me to the side.”

St. Pius X varsity basketball coach Aaron Parr, William’s friend since kindergarten and high school teammate through graduation in 2006, is coaching his buddy.

“William’s attitude made me believe he could make a comeback,” Aaron says. “Our coach used to say, ‘It’s not what happens, but how you respond.’ I think with that competitive background. . . he looks at it as adversity [to overcome], not an end.”

By June 17, William’s rehabilitation regimen took him to Shepherd Center’s basketball court.

“That was one of my biggest goals,” he explains. “I’m shooting left-handed. It feels really good to see the ball go through the net. Honestly, the best therapy is getting on the hardwood.”

William is continuing his recovery at his parents’ home, and he will return to Shepherd Center for outpatient therapy. He vows to soon resume work in his business, purchasing inventories from failing stores and reselling to liquidators.

William says he’ll coach again on and off the hardwood. And he will add one new activity to his list.

“I want to come back to Shepherd Center and volunteer,” William says. “So many people have helped. Dr. Elmers, my PT, my OT, incredible nurses, and I’ve become friends with patients. These people have helped get my life back together. I want to pay it forward.”

Written by Matt Winkeljohn
Photos by Gary Meek

Summer brings lots of fun and outdoor activities, but it is also a season that often yields a spike in brain and spinal cord injuries. To avoid these injuries, please follow these safety tips.

1. Always enter the water feet first. This includes all bodies of water – oceans, lakes, ponds, waterslides, mud holes, pools, etc. Both brain and spinal cord injuries can and do occur due to diving.
    
2. Designate a “water watcher” – someone constantly watching swimming children and adults from the shore to avoid drownings and brain injury.
    
3. Boating laws have changed in Georgia, and you are now liable for a BUI (boating under the influence) if consuming alcohol while boating. Alcohol, sun exposure and operating machinery are a dangerous combination.
    
4. Make sure all children wear an appropriately sized life jacket at all times while participating in all water sports, or on a boat. Avoid swimming in heavily trafficked areas where boats are likely to pass.
    
5. While trampolines should be used with extreme caution, if at all, reduce your likelihood of injury by maintaining a high-walled enclosure and padded edges. Only allow children to jump one at a time and under constant supervision. Somersaults and flips are not worth the potential for spinal cord injuries.
    
6. Always wear your helmet, making sure it fits snuggly and you can tilt your head back and forth without any movement from the helmet. The straps should form a “Y” around your ear for a snug fit. Helmets reduce your likelihood of traumatic brain injury (TBI) by 85 percent, according to the CDC. While helmets reduce the likelihood of a TBI, they are not a failsafe. Always exercise caution and obey traffic laws while riding a bike. Helmets should be replaced if they have sustained a significant hit.
    
7. Graduated teen licensing laws have been proven to reduce the number of teen fatalities and injuries by allowing teens to practice their skills gradually in low-risk settings. Teens are most at risk during their first year of driving. Driving at night and having multiple passengers increases that already substantially high risk. Please adhere to the law and guidelines to help protect your child.
    
8. As always, put away all distractions while driving. Though talking on the phone while driving using both handheld and hands-free sets is still legal in Georgia for adults, the risk is not worth it. Hands-free devices do not reduce the risk of accidents while driving because talking on the phone still can cause cognitive distraction leading to inattention blindness (not seeing a stop sign or other car, for example), according to the National Safety Council.
    
9. ATVs are not safe for anyone under 16 and should only be used by single riders. Make sure to complete a safety course before riding an ATV that is properly sized for the individual rider.
    
10. If you have a pool in your backyard, make sure it is fenced in and locked when there is no adult supervision. Remove all diving boards from personal pools.

For more information on Shepherd Center's Injury Prevention Program, click here.

EMMA HARRINGTON is the director of injury prevention and education services at Shepherd Center. Previously, Emma started the injury prevention program at Grady Memorial Hospital in the Trauma Department. She holds a master of education degree in international education policy from Harvard University. Originally from Boston, Emma is a licensed social studies teacher.

Now, thanks to the efforts of Shepherd Center physician Herndon Murray, M.D., and the hospital's injury prevention program, Shepherd Center has seen a dramatic reduction in the past 18 months in spinal cord injuries caused by diving.

Diving is simply not worth the risk, Dr. Murray says. The only safe dive is the one you don't take. Listen to this 10-minute podcast as Dr. Murray explains the injury prevention program and why diving is such a dangerous activity. This podcast and others are available at shepherd.org/news/radio or can be downloaded as an MP3 file from the link above. A transcript of the interview is also available on the Shepherd Center Radio web page.

Dr. Murray is medical director of orthopedics and a consulting orthopedist at Shepherd Center. He is board certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia and Tulane University. He completed his orthopedic training at Georgia Baptist Hospital, Scottish Rite Children's Hospital and Rancho Los Amigos Hospital in California. Dr. Murray is a member of the American Spinal Injury Association, the Medical Association of Georgia, the Georgia Orthopaedic Society and the Medical Association of Atlanta. He is also a clinical instructor of the division of orthopedic surgery at Emory University. Dr. Murray was recently named to U.S. News & World Report magazine's Top Doctors list.