By CHRISTINE FACCIOLO
Special to The News Journal
Virginia R. Corrigan knows how devastating brain and spinal cord injuries can be.
While working in the trauma unit at Christiana Hospital in 1993, the critical care nurse found herself caring for a 19-year-old dying of massive head injuries he'd received in a serious car accident. She recalls how his parents brought pictures of him to the hospital and how they grieved for their son.
That tragedy marked a turning point in Corrigan's life and career. She remembers thinking, "Why are we doing this? This is insane. I cannot assist with one more death certificate or organ donation for one more teenager without doing something that stems the tide."
Now, as injury prevention coordinator of the Trauma Program at Christiana Care, Corrigan is responsible for raising public awareness of the life-altering effects of traumatic injuries and what can be done to prevent them.
Because it is the state's only Level 1 trauma facility, Christiana Care is required to do quantifiable community outreach education to reduce the incidence of traumatic injury. Corrigan joined the program as a part-time volunteer in 1994 and two years later became the coordinator.
"My job is to look at the injuries that are occurring in the state and determine the best method of intervention," said Corrigan, 44, of Newark, who has been a nurse for more than 20 years.
The need for intervention is great. Traumatic injury remains the leading cause of death for children and adults ages 1 to 44 in Delaware, according to the Division of Public Health. In addition, Corrigan estimates that between 160 and 180 people are admitted each month to Christiana Hospital's trauma unit.
But getting the message across can be a challenge. "People think that if it is an issue, it's going to happen to someone else, and not to them," she said. "The major problem of injury prevention initiatives is that people truly think that since it is not a planned thing, how can you possibly talk about preventing it?"
The program customizes presentations for schools, health fairs, businesses and community groups, and its members serve on Christiana Care's speakers bureau. Last December, for example, Corrigan spoke to parents in a middle school PTA about how to help kids avoid holiday-related injuries. Other times, Corrigan will draw a community's attention to a problem it didn't realize it had.
"Sometimes a community will think its biggest problem is violence, but when we look at the data we find their biggest problem is child passenger safety," she said.
