Macon Bibb Firefighters Participate in Teen Driver Rodeo 2010 (Photo Gallery)

Firefighters from the Macon Bibb Fire Department participated in this years "Teen Driver Rodeo 2010" sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Macon. The day long event involved public safety officers from the Macon Bibb Fire Department,Macon Police Department,Bibb County Sheriff's Office, Georgia State Patrol,Medical Center Ambulance Service,and Emory Hospital's flight team of advanced medical transport personnel.The theme of the event was to educate teen drivers about the dangers of reckless driving or driving while under the influence of alcohol or drug use. Another important focus challenged teen drivers to drive safely and obey traffic rules and regulations at all times epically when other peers are riding along as passengers.Our Fire Department's role was to demonstrate the stark reality that making poor judgments while driving can have disastrous results. Firefighters demonstrated what it takes to extricate a severely injured passenger from a vehicle accident when they are trapped inside the wreckage.The announcer explained that the "Golden Hour" concept is extremely important when a victim has severe life threatening injuries.Severely critical patients have one hour from the time of the accident until they are in a trauma center and/or operating room to have an increased chance of surviving a critical injury.Everyone involved did an outstanding job getting that message across and in the process hoped to keep teens aware that making good decisions and obeying the laws will have a positive impact in their lives and the lives of others.