PARTY program hits home

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Paulette Swampy, 29, wheeled onto the Samson High School stage in Hobbema May 16, and a hush fell over the crowd of students. In a matter-of-fact style, she told how she bought a new truck on her 18th birthday and, 17 hours and a few drinks later, ended up rolled over in a ditch. She broke her neck, shoulder blade and six ribs.

"When the doctor came and told me I was never going to walk again I said, 'no, he's crazy'" said Swampy, who grew up in Hobbema. But 11 years later, she stills sits in a wheelchair and needs help to perform simple tasks like doing her hair and getting into bed.

The students listened respectfully and asked many questions. Swampy's talk came near the end of a long day of demonstrations and workshops that were part of the Hobbema PARTY (Prevent Alcohol and Risk Related Trauma in Youth) Program.

"We wanted to use professional people from Hobbema (to teach the program)," said Lynne Bryant, who was the driving force behind the initiative since she started developing it a year-and-a-half ago. Her desire was to encourage students to make smart choices in everything in life.

Bryant brainstormed with Telly Raine of Indian Health Services Injury Prevention and about 25 others to develop the program. Among the groups they worked with were the Louis Bull police, the Ermineskin fire department, the Maskwachees ambulance service and the staff from the local health centre.

"We're hoping that the message they heard and learned and saw from these past few days will help them better themselves for the future," said Raine, adding he was happy to have the students see every step in the tragedy that could result from making a foolish decision.

Vice-principal Gloria Baptiste said the presenters were well prepared and caused the students to pay close attention. "They were at their best behavior," Baptiste said. "And they were shocked at some of the displays and presentations that we had."

Students were divided into five groups and rotated every 30 minutes through interactive stations teaching about alcohol, impaired driving, the emergency room, rehabilitation and the morgue. The students also got to view a crash demonstration with fire and ambulance crews going through the entire emergency process, complete with a Jaws of Life demonstration.

"It takes three to five minutes until your brain is dead if you don't have oxygen going in there," said home care nurse Gloria McKnight to students in the emergency room station. She then demonstrated on a dummy the steps that would be taken to get oxygen to the brain quickly. She carefully explained what could be expected if anyone had to make an emergency visit to the hospital. When the insertion of catheters was explained, the young men in the group grimaced.

"I would not like to see a 16-year-old in a wheelchair," said Karen Minde, a home care assistant who taught the rehabilitation workshop. She held the students' attention when talking about bladder and bowel control problems resulting from severe brain trauma injuries. Pointing to a wheelchair and adult diapers, she said, "These are not the types of things we want to go shopping for."

The program, which had never been done before, was a success for organizers, students and teachers. "It's been very well organized," said co-vice-principal Arlene Samson. "All we had to provide was the accommodation and they took care of the rest." She said she would like to see the program become an annual tradition.

Every high school student from the Louis Bull, Ermineskin, Samson and Maskwachees bands was able to participate in the program during the four days of presentations.