Risk taking is a normal part of being a teenager, but sometimes that behaviour can be life changing or even fatal. A Royal Perth hospital program has exposed young people to the potential outcomes of dangerous behaviour and hopes lessons can be learnt.
Category
đź“ş
TVTranscript
00:00 Seeing a loved one wheeled into their hospital is a nightmare scenario for doctors.
00:07 Inside Royal Perth, Western Australia's major trauma hospital, life-saving work goes on 24/7.
00:15 This busy facility treats more than 70,000 patients a year.
00:21 And it's that work that Dr Tim Bowles wants his daughter to witness first-hand.
00:27 He sees the impact of trauma on families every day.
00:32 So I met John on Monday night. He's had a motorbike accident and as you can see he's had a fairly nasty injury to his head.
00:40 He's on a ventilator so he's unconscious and sedated so he's got that breathing tube which is supporting his breathing at the moment.
00:47 John did nothing wrong. He was wearing a helmet and came off on a sharp bed.
00:52 Just the idea of for Eva to be one of the patients here, I can't even imagine what that would be like.
00:59 And I try to put myself in the position of all the patients here as well and I just can't even imagine what they're going through sometimes.
01:06 Eva is one of hundreds of children brought through this hospital every year to observe what's happening.
01:13 With the goal of making them think twice about the risks that could be involved.
01:19 Making them think twice about the risks that would make them patients here.
01:24 It was actually really emotional because it was just really hard to hear what happened to them.
01:32 These rooms are filled with heartbreaking stories.
01:36 Every patient has had their life changed in some way.
01:40 Doctors hope at least one is able to break through to these young people and influence the decisions they make.
01:47 Conveying the human cost of a bad decision or a bad mistake is very difficult, particularly for a parent or teacher.
01:53 I think being able to see the consequences yourself is much more valuable than being told those consequences.
02:00 This program is the first of its kind in Australia.
02:05 Launched in 2006 after Dr Monica Gope came across a similar initiative while working in Canada.
02:11 It had quite an impact on me and I sort of do this thing every day.
02:15 So we knew that we needed in Perth to have a little bit more outreach into our community and that seemed to fit the bill.
02:23 The program's also been tailored to target at-risk youth in the juvenile justice system.
02:29 Some obviously find it quite confronting and upsetting being in the setting.
02:33 I'm usually impressed by what they take away in terms of the actual message,
02:37 which is sort of thinking about what they're doing and trying to make safe decisions and safe choices.
02:44 We unfortunately see people like Max pretty much every week.
02:48 A powerful lesson that may just save a life.
02:52 you
02:54 [BLANK_AUDIO]