In recognition of Trauma Awareness Month, the Sacred Heart Trauma Center urges the public to avoid making cell phone calls or text messaging while driving. Deaths and serious injuries have resulted from drivers distracted by talking on cell phones and sending text messages.

“No call or text is worth losing a life,” says Dr. Karanbir Gill, trauma surgeon and medical director of the Sacred Heart Trauma Center.

Distracted driving is any non-driving activity a person engages in that has the potential to distract him or her from the primary task of driving and increase the risk of crashing.

There are three main types of distraction:
• Visual — taking your eyes off the road
• Manual — taking you hands of the wheel
• Cognitive — taking your mind off what you’re doing

In 2008, 5,870 people in the United States lost their lives and an estimated 515,000 people were injured in police-reported crashes in which at least one form of driver distraction was reported on the police crash report. While all distractions can endanger drivers’ safety, texting is the most alarming because it involves all three types of distraction.

For more information on trauma services at Sacred Heart, please call (850) 416-7000 or visit us online at www.sacred-heart.org.

About the Sacred Heart Trauma Center
Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola provides a 24-hour Emergency Department that includes the region's only comprehensive Trauma Center that is staffed and equipped to handle life-threatening injuries in adults and children. Sacred Heart is designated by the State of Florida as a Pediatric Trauma Referral Center and a Level II Trauma Center for adults. Our Trauma Team is led by trauma surgeons who coordinate care with other specialists, including neurosurgeons and orthopedic surgeons.

Distracted Driving Facts
• Driving while using a cell phone reduces the amount of brain activity associated with driving by 37 percent. (Source: Carnegie Mellon)
• Nearly 6,000 people died in 2008 in crashes involving a distracted driver, and more than half a million were injured. (Source: NHTSA)
• The younger, inexperienced drivers under 20 years old have the highest proportion of distraction-related fatal crashes.
• Drivers who use hand-held devices are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves. (Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety)
• Using a cell phone use while driving, whether it’s hand-held or hands-free, delays a driver's reactions as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08 percent. (Source: University of Utah)

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