Aurora BayCare Medical Center’s Certified Emergency Nurse, Lisa Koehler, R.N., teaches Excel Driving Center students the direct effects of drinking and driving and impaired driving. Koehler and Aurora BayCare is committed to education and prevention of drunken driving.

They hope students learn not only the basic skills of driving a vehicle, but the importance of driving safely as well.  Koehler lectures about real-life trauma examples that she sees at the Verified Level II Trauma Center at Aurora BayCare.  She specifically notes the dangerous outcomes of not only alcohol-related car accidents, but accidents that result from talking on your cell phone, texting while driving, being tired behind the wheel and playing music too loud.

Through medical equipment show-and-tell, students also learn general information of trauma units. Koehler lets volunteers try on neck braces, so they get first-hand experience of neck injury treatment. She also shows body bags and toe tags to emphasize fatalities resulting from these types of accidents. Koehler asks students if they are prepared to handle themselves, if they drink, drive and harm or kill someone else.

“It is very important to talk to driver education classes about organ donation so they have the information to make an informed decision about whether they are willing to be a donor.  By talking about donation, people see how important it is to the over 100,000 individuals on the waiting list and how many people one donor can help.  Donation is truly a wonderful thing humans can do for one another.
 
My son Dan Linzmeier became an organ and tissue donor 13 years ago when he died in an alcohol related car crash at 21 years old.  He has 4 living organ recipients; Don has his heart, Jackie has his liver, Debbie has his kidney & pancreas, Ed has his other kidney.  My son also has 44 tissue recipients who received skin, bone & connective tissue.

Sherry Linzmeier, Organ Donor Speaker
Donor Mom