Being seriously injured in a traffic accident is one of those moments that are
unpredictable.
When we drive, we do not think about what to do when we are seriously injured in such
moments. Sometimes we are unable to think after these moments because there is no
consiousness.
If a traffic accident occurs and there is no evidence of identification of the victim, how will
first responders know who they are? How will first responders know about the medical
conditions inside the victim's body? Diabetes cannot be seen from the outside of the
human body, nor can heart conditions or mental conditions.
The Illinois Department of Transportation released a new initiative last week, aimed to
assist first responders as to important medical information and help save lives quicker.
The “yellow dot” is the newest program by IDOT and its Division of Traffic Safety.
Yellow dots stick to the rear windshield of your vehicle. When an accident occurs, first
responders will see the dot and look for a yellow folder of important medical information
located in your glove compartment. Once the vital information is known, first responders
can properly treat victims safer.
What is referred to as the “golden hour” starts at the moment of the injury. During that
hour, treating victims using the detailed medical information in the yellow folder can
improve the chance of saving lives.
Yellow dots and the cooresponding yellow folders are available at county health
departments. The dots should be stuck to the lower left corner of the rear windshield. The
yellow folder, which details such information as name, blood type, medications and
emergency contact information – all filled out in pencil – should be in the vehicle's glove
compartment. Once in the glove compartment, the yellow folder stays in a set place and
does not move around as much.
Filling out the folder in pencil allows for erasing or editing of medical information when the
time comes. Each vehicle should have a folder for each regular driver and passenger that
rides in it.
Once you are all prepared under the Yellow Dot program, the seconds that count can be
utilized properly.
High School Sports Traffic
Families with children involved in high school sports travel throughout Illinois often,
whether it's going to an away game or making a visit to a college campus. More often than
not, going to a particular city for the first time is because of traveling for the purpose of
high school sports. How many times have parents of freshman athletes been to a city
where the child's conference game or meet is at, before this particular time?
Driving down a particular road for the first time is a slightly abnormal experience. You
don't know where the bumps or potholes on the road are at. You don't know just how
sharp particular curves are. Controlling the vehicle through these obstacles for the first
time involves more thinking on the driver's part. When we guess wrong in these instances,
the chances of getting into a traffic accident are great.
When you are driving in an unfamiliar place and have no identification, how are first
responders to know where you are from, or who you are? The yellow dot helps them with
not only treatment information, but also contact information to alert those close as to the
situation. From there, possibly more information about the victim can be gathered.
Northern Illinois has a mix of different kinds of roads, from straight-arrowed to
treacherous. Both kinds of roads, and those in the middle, are just as hazardous as the
other.
With winter approaching, the risk of accidents will get worse.
Roads such as Interstate 39 from Rockford to LaSalle and Highway 30 from Rock Falls to
Hinckley are largely straight, where there is no movement on the car's part and can
distract a driver wanting to turn the head and see something different.
Busy two-lane roads such as Highway 20 from Galena to Freeport and State Route 47
from Huntley to Morris have a lot of cars on such a short stretch of road going across.
Stop-and-go driving is the norm on such roads, and the chances of getting hit from
behind, or hitting someone else from behind increase. The same goes for busy city roads
like State Street in Rockford and John Deere Road in Moline.
State Route 2 from Rockford to Grand Detour, as scenic as it may be, has many twists
and turns and is along the Rock River. You never know if one minor recovery could send
the car into a rock foundation or the river itself. Same with State Route 71 in Starved Rock
State Park; if you're going down that road for the first time, you don't really expect such a
large bend in the road.
Going up and down roads in Jo Daviess County such as Route 20 from East Dubuque to
Galena, Elizabeth Blacktop between Elizabeth and Mt. Carroll and the Hickman Highway
from Elizabeth to Scales Mound is tough and has many curves as well.
City hills themselves can create problems, and just trying to navigate them is difficult
enough. What happens when the vehicle stalls, the brakes do not work, and you're going
down the hill on 16th Street in Moline, 18th Avenue in Rock Island, or Chartres Street in
LaSalle?
The latter happened to me one afternoon on my way to a softball game at LaSalle-Peru.
Media and Distracted Driving
Those in the high school sports media profession – such as myself – can be at risk of
serious distracted driving, especially between the hours of 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. Monday
through Saturday.
Work assignments involve traveling to places and getting there early enough to gather
important background information for stories. Since we are in a rush to get there as early
as possible, but still closer to game time, the chances of getting into a traffic accident due
to pressure to arrive go up by about 50%.
The same chances are not the case when leaving the event.
If reporters need to drive back to the office, studio or home to work on deadline, they are
often trying to find the nearest available computer in a quick amount of time. How many
times have reporters driven down roads breaking the speed limit by many numbers just to
get a story in on deadline? In this current job economy, every second counts when it
comes to keeping the job. Missing a deadline can be fatal in the newspaper industry.
When debating whether job security or safety is important, the risk of distracted driving
goes up a lot.
To add to deadline pressure, reporters are trained to formulate the story from beginning
to end before physically writing it. What to put as the lead? How to structure the story?
What quotes are to be used, and what are the quotes? Juggaling around the framework
of a story is also a mental form of distracted driving.
Leaving the assignment location, reporters are 200% more at risk of distracted driving.
In a decade in the high school sports media profession, I have had a few close calls and
misteps but no serious accidents. But I never know when the big hit will come.
At Northern Illinois Sports Beat, one of my writers was seriously injured in a traffic accident
on his way home from an assignment. He was not at fault, but rather those in the vehicle
that hit him. I never want to get a phone call of such nature again.
Because I know I'm at serious risk of distracted driving because of what I do, as well as
having to relive moments of unpredictability, I got the dot. Because I know my mental
condition, as well as my physical makeup, may make recovery seem worse, I got the dot.
My yellow dot has been affixed to the lower left corner of my rear windshield, and my
yellow information folder has been filled out – in pencil – and is in my glove department.
I never know when disaster will strike, and nor does anyone else.
Got the dot?
Cody Cutter is the Publisher of Northern Illinois Sports Beat, and yes, really does look like
that. He can be reached at Northernillinoissportsbeat (at) yahoo (dot) com. --- Talk about
what's written on our Message Boards!
unpredictable.
When we drive, we do not think about what to do when we are seriously injured in such
moments. Sometimes we are unable to think after these moments because there is no
consiousness.
If a traffic accident occurs and there is no evidence of identification of the victim, how will
first responders know who they are? How will first responders know about the medical
conditions inside the victim's body? Diabetes cannot be seen from the outside of the
human body, nor can heart conditions or mental conditions.
The Illinois Department of Transportation released a new initiative last week, aimed to
assist first responders as to important medical information and help save lives quicker.
The “yellow dot” is the newest program by IDOT and its Division of Traffic Safety.
Yellow dots stick to the rear windshield of your vehicle. When an accident occurs, first
responders will see the dot and look for a yellow folder of important medical information
located in your glove compartment. Once the vital information is known, first responders
can properly treat victims safer.
What is referred to as the “golden hour” starts at the moment of the injury. During that
hour, treating victims using the detailed medical information in the yellow folder can
improve the chance of saving lives.
Yellow dots and the cooresponding yellow folders are available at county health
departments. The dots should be stuck to the lower left corner of the rear windshield. The
yellow folder, which details such information as name, blood type, medications and
emergency contact information – all filled out in pencil – should be in the vehicle's glove
compartment. Once in the glove compartment, the yellow folder stays in a set place and
does not move around as much.
Filling out the folder in pencil allows for erasing or editing of medical information when the
time comes. Each vehicle should have a folder for each regular driver and passenger that
rides in it.
Once you are all prepared under the Yellow Dot program, the seconds that count can be
utilized properly.
High School Sports Traffic
Families with children involved in high school sports travel throughout Illinois often,
whether it's going to an away game or making a visit to a college campus. More often than
not, going to a particular city for the first time is because of traveling for the purpose of
high school sports. How many times have parents of freshman athletes been to a city
where the child's conference game or meet is at, before this particular time?
Driving down a particular road for the first time is a slightly abnormal experience. You
don't know where the bumps or potholes on the road are at. You don't know just how
sharp particular curves are. Controlling the vehicle through these obstacles for the first
time involves more thinking on the driver's part. When we guess wrong in these instances,
the chances of getting into a traffic accident are great.
When you are driving in an unfamiliar place and have no identification, how are first
responders to know where you are from, or who you are? The yellow dot helps them with
not only treatment information, but also contact information to alert those close as to the
situation. From there, possibly more information about the victim can be gathered.
Northern Illinois has a mix of different kinds of roads, from straight-arrowed to
treacherous. Both kinds of roads, and those in the middle, are just as hazardous as the
other.
With winter approaching, the risk of accidents will get worse.
Roads such as Interstate 39 from Rockford to LaSalle and Highway 30 from Rock Falls to
Hinckley are largely straight, where there is no movement on the car's part and can
distract a driver wanting to turn the head and see something different.
Busy two-lane roads such as Highway 20 from Galena to Freeport and State Route 47
from Huntley to Morris have a lot of cars on such a short stretch of road going across.
Stop-and-go driving is the norm on such roads, and the chances of getting hit from
behind, or hitting someone else from behind increase. The same goes for busy city roads
like State Street in Rockford and John Deere Road in Moline.
State Route 2 from Rockford to Grand Detour, as scenic as it may be, has many twists
and turns and is along the Rock River. You never know if one minor recovery could send
the car into a rock foundation or the river itself. Same with State Route 71 in Starved Rock
State Park; if you're going down that road for the first time, you don't really expect such a
large bend in the road.
Going up and down roads in Jo Daviess County such as Route 20 from East Dubuque to
Galena, Elizabeth Blacktop between Elizabeth and Mt. Carroll and the Hickman Highway
from Elizabeth to Scales Mound is tough and has many curves as well.
City hills themselves can create problems, and just trying to navigate them is difficult
enough. What happens when the vehicle stalls, the brakes do not work, and you're going
down the hill on 16th Street in Moline, 18th Avenue in Rock Island, or Chartres Street in
LaSalle?
The latter happened to me one afternoon on my way to a softball game at LaSalle-Peru.
Media and Distracted Driving
Those in the high school sports media profession – such as myself – can be at risk of
serious distracted driving, especially between the hours of 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. Monday
through Saturday.
Work assignments involve traveling to places and getting there early enough to gather
important background information for stories. Since we are in a rush to get there as early
as possible, but still closer to game time, the chances of getting into a traffic accident due
to pressure to arrive go up by about 50%.
The same chances are not the case when leaving the event.
If reporters need to drive back to the office, studio or home to work on deadline, they are
often trying to find the nearest available computer in a quick amount of time. How many
times have reporters driven down roads breaking the speed limit by many numbers just to
get a story in on deadline? In this current job economy, every second counts when it
comes to keeping the job. Missing a deadline can be fatal in the newspaper industry.
When debating whether job security or safety is important, the risk of distracted driving
goes up a lot.
To add to deadline pressure, reporters are trained to formulate the story from beginning
to end before physically writing it. What to put as the lead? How to structure the story?
What quotes are to be used, and what are the quotes? Juggaling around the framework
of a story is also a mental form of distracted driving.
Leaving the assignment location, reporters are 200% more at risk of distracted driving.
In a decade in the high school sports media profession, I have had a few close calls and
misteps but no serious accidents. But I never know when the big hit will come.
At Northern Illinois Sports Beat, one of my writers was seriously injured in a traffic accident
on his way home from an assignment. He was not at fault, but rather those in the vehicle
that hit him. I never want to get a phone call of such nature again.
Because I know I'm at serious risk of distracted driving because of what I do, as well as
having to relive moments of unpredictability, I got the dot. Because I know my mental
condition, as well as my physical makeup, may make recovery seem worse, I got the dot.
My yellow dot has been affixed to the lower left corner of my rear windshield, and my
yellow information folder has been filled out – in pencil – and is in my glove department.
I never know when disaster will strike, and nor does anyone else.
Got the dot?
Cody Cutter is the Publisher of Northern Illinois Sports Beat, and yes, really does look like
that. He can be reached at Northernillinoissportsbeat (at) yahoo (dot) com. --- Talk about
what's written on our Message Boards!
| Northern Illinois Sports Beat http://www.northernillinoissportsbeat.com |
C o d y' s
o
r
n
e
r
C o l u m n s
o
r
n
e
r
C o l u m n s
| Those Who Know Northern Illinois High School Sports Know about NISB! |
One yellow dot can save your life
in a traffic accident ...
in a traffic accident ...
Got The Dot?