It’s Monday morning—you just finished caring for “Bill.” Bill is a seventeen year old, who should graduate in 3 months. Friday night Bill was involved in a motor vehicle crash at high speed, alcohol was involved. One of Bill’s friends died at the scene and the other is in critical condition.

Ever wonder if there was some way to help teens realize the consequences of drinking and driving? How one bad decision can lead to life altering events?

GR-ACY is a program to assist the community in addressing the issue of alcohol related injuries in juveniles, by educating the youth on the effects of alcohol on themselves, their family and their community.

The goal of GR-ACY is to reduce injuries and fatalities from motor vehicle crashes involving alcohol and /or drug impaired juveniles by:

• forming a collaborative with the community to address the problem
• affecting the attitudes and behavior of youth offenders
• and decreasing recidivism

The Program
This will be accomplished through an 18-hour educational program consisting of workshops, observation of patients having sustained injury as a consequence of alcohol and/or drugs, participation in simulation exercises, at-home exercises, and community service activities in the medical center.

The educational program offers juveniles the opportunity to observe patients across the patient care continuum, who have sustained injuries as a consequence of alcohol or drug related events. Following their observation of the patient experience posttraumatic injury, the juvenile will participate in simulation activities to reinforce the consequences and “make it real” for them, such as a wheelchair obstacle course and “Fatal Vision Goggles.”

For more information on GR-ACY or to volunteer, please contact:

Christi Adams, CCNS, STICU
Nurse Clinician and GR-ACY program leader
828-0514 or email at Christi: cadams2@mcvh-vcu.edu