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FORWARDEVER MEDIA CENTER

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"The media's the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the masses."
- Malcolm X

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The Forwardever Media Center is 100% committed to providing unconventional writing workshops and media literacy training to "at-risk" Black youth, particularly males, ages 14 through 24. Working in partnership with The Mentoring Center in Oakland, CA., the Center's writing workshops, website internship, and film forums, help students develop critical thinking skills and discover their creative talents. We recruit youth for our programs from the California Youth Authority (the state's largest prison for youth) as well as from universities and high schools. This cross-pollination of young minds creates dynamic shared experiences.

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300 Seconds to Save a Black Man

by John T

charity_gunshot_traumaroom.gif
The doors to the operating suite swing open and with aggressive urgency a hospital gurney is rushed in. On this gurney yet another 15 year old GSW (gun shot wound) client lies clinging to the strand of life which is with each second getting thinner. "Oh snap!" I think to myself. I realize I recognize this dredlocked kid as one of the "Pop Warner" football league players I would medic for at local youth football games. His white Tee shirt is now red and cut up the center to gain access to the multiple bullet wounds to his torso. Frightened and combative, he struggles against the medical staff because he can't breathe due to the blood that fills his mouth and nostrils. We have very little time to save his life.

The operating room is ready and supplies are opened and sterile. The gurney is pushed alongside the operative table and in synchronous concert the client is swiftly moved and prepared for traumatic intervention. As the Charge Nurse working the 11 to 7 shift at Oakland's Highland Hospital Trauma surgical unit, familiar faces always have an effect on you. I move to the head of the table, take the kids hand and connect with his eyes. Then I lean in closely explain to him he needn't struggle because we are here to "save your life, now work with us". He ceases to struggle, we attach monitors, intubate and prep him from his chin to his thighs. As the surgeons move into place we verify our client and intentions and the scalpel is pressed into the flesh. All this happens in a mere 300 seconds. That's usually all the time we have to save a life.

This same repetitive scenario is played out night after night in this hospital and many other urban medical centers across the country. As a surgery team dedicated to saving lives, we don't have the ability to discern the gangster from the victim, we're charged with increasing the chances of survival of our clients.

Here at Highland we serve a wonderfully diverse community, delivering care, and often life-saving services to those who would otherwise have no option. The Trauma Center and Emergency Department are among the busiest and most respected operations in the country. On average, 65,000 patients are served by the Emergency Department annually. The Trauma Center also sees 2,000 patients a year, more than any other East Bay Trauma facility.

We're in a long running crisis with violence in America. And speaking from the front lines we need a turn around right now, not tomorrow. In this city of Oakland our homicide rate for the year is currently at 119 with a bullet, and its climbing everyday. Unfortunately, there is a disproportionate number of young African American males who contribute to this death statistic. And I will say, even the baddest gangstas cry for their mother when they are wheeled in bloody and wounded. And we're determined to not let them die when they're caught on the wrong end of the gun.

After a harrowing surgery process, that young brother happened to survive that night but I've witnessed countless numbers who didn't. Everyday at my work at Highland Hospital, I see far too many young, Black males with gunshot wounds, probably inflicted by other black males. We all have heard the nightly news reports about this but few people stop to think about what happens during those precious seconds at the medical center when we have a chance to turn these brothers around.

Our children are not "Gettin' Rich" but they are definitely "dying trying." They are doing their best imitations of the media's misguided role models. Let's reduce the number of impromptu "sidewalk memorials" with flowers and candles laid against fences and corners in our hoods. Let's increase the numbers of dedicated mentors available to our children. 50 cent, B.E.T., and others in the media are not getting the job done.

Unfortunately, they are creating a heavier burden for medical trauma workers like me.

Each one Teach one
"KILA SIKU" ( Everyday Brothers)

John T., R.N. is a charge nurse in the Trauma Unit at Highland Hospital in Oakland, CA. 300 Seconds will be a regular column to whatchusay.com.

Posted on October 8, 2006 7:16 AM

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