2009
ThinkFirst Awards

Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Oak Brook, Illinois

The ThinkFirst The ThinkFirst National Injury Prevention Foundation presented the following 2009 awards:



Outstanding Partner in Injury Prevention Award to the
Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation
Peter Wilderotter, President and Chief Executive Officer, accepting

In appreciation for your continued support of the ThinkFirst VIP Leadership Council and their projects for injury prevention education.’ The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation has generously awarded three Quality of Life Grants to the ThinkFirst Foundation over the past several years. Funding initially assisted in the development of the VIP Leadership Council, and later provided funds that enabled this committee to produce two ThinkFirst films, one for training VIP speakers and the second, Think About Your Choices, featured this evening. On behalf of the VIP Leadership Council, the ThinkFirst Board of Directors, the ThinkFirst Foundation, our network of chapters and all who will benefit from these educational films, we sincerely thank you, and look forward to years of continued partnership in supporting each others efforts for preventing injuries and improving the quality of life for those who have been injured.

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Outstanding Newcomer Award
ThinkFirst McHenry County, Crystal Lake, Illinois
Karen Calendo, Chapter Director, accepting

The McHenry County Mental Health Board formed a task force to organize services and information for residents who experienced traumatic brain injury (TBI), per their response to concerns addressed at a public hearing. This task force identified the need for a community-based prevention program and established the McHenry County Chapter of ThinkFirst in April 2008.

In less than one year, they established a solid nine member decision making committee headed by a VIP parent that led the development and implementation of a strategic three-year plan. The plan maps strategies for community education on the prevention of TBI. They have reached over 2,000 primary school age children through three summer camps ad numerous classroom programs. Thus far, two “Life with a TBI” in-service trainings have been presented to nearly 90 direct service providers.

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Outstanding Community Involvement Award
ThinkFirst Vail Valley Medical Center, Vail, Colorado
Kim Greene, Chapter Director, accepting on her chapter’s behalf.

ThinkFirst Vail has been an integral member of the Eagle County Snowrider Safety Alliance (SRSA) for the past 8 years. SRSA is a not-for-profit organization comprised of local law enforcement and emergency personnel. SRSA works with Beaver Creek’s Ski Area Safety Dept. to educate local school children, skiers and snowboarders about injury prevention, Your Responsibility Code, and personal accountability on the mountain. The organization’s mission is to educate area elementary students on skier and rider safety as well as the importance of wearing helmets. Their ultimate goal is to decrease the number and severity of injuries that occur. This program reached over 2,000 students this last school year and provided 90 ski helmets to children through this program.

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Physician Sponsor of the Year Award
Russell Amundson, MD
Einstein’s ThinkFirst , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Dr. Russell Amundson is the sponsoring neurosurgeon for Einstein Medical Center’s ThinkFirst Chapter in Philadelphia, PA. He is also the Chairman of the ThinkFirst Foundation Board of Directors.

Dr. Amundson took on the task of heading up the committee which developed ThinkFirst for Youth curricula. He has impressed us with his passion for ThinkFirst and for his affection for that very challenging age – adolescence, in addition to his willingness to share his vision, his expertise, and his hard work with anyone willing to help.

Dr. Amundson, along with his Chapter Director, Cathy Markey, RN, MSN, brought all five chapters in Philadelphia to the table to discuss how they could work together to become a stronger group. This group, TF-PAC, (ThinkFirst Philadelphia Area Coalition) now works together as a team to meet the needs throughout Philadelphia.

Dr. Amundson has a ‘hands-on’ approach with the ThinkFirst Einstein Medical Center Chapter, and is always willing to assist with their activities. He presented ThinkFirst to a group of area high school and middle school principals in March, so they could see the quality and impact of ThinkFirst programs first hand.

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VIP of the Year Award – Voices for Injury Prevention
Chad Thomas, ThinkFirst Iowa, Waterloo, Iowa

Chad has been an active member of the ThinkFirst family since 2000 – first as a ThinkFirst Iowa Voices for Injury Prevention (VIP) speaker, then as the chapter coordinator, and now as the ThinkFirst Iowa State Chapter Director.

Chad was in a car crash during the summer of 1998, just after his graduating from high school. He was so determined to begin his freshman year at the University of Northern Iowa that his college entrance was delayed only one semester as he went through rehabilitation. He graduated in 2003 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and a minor in General Business.

About 5 years ago, Chad saw the need to improve the ThinkFirst injury prevention marketing effort in Iowa and spearheaded an impressive and creative marketing campaign. Chad has spoken to thousands of middle and high school students throughout Iowa. During the 2007-08 school year, he spoke to over 23,000 students at 159 ThinkFirst For Teens presentations. During 2008-09, he expects to top that number, presenting to nearly 29,000 students at 205 events.

On a national level, Chad serves as an active member of the VIP Leadership Council. He worked closely with Dale Spencer and the ThinkFirst Foundation during the production of the VIP training film in 2006 and 2007. Most recently, he served as one of the driving forces behind the production and release of the new ThinkFirst for Teens film, Think About Your Choices. Chad regularly and gladly offers to serve in any capacity helpful to the national effort. We are deeply grateful to him for his outstanding contributions to the mission and programs of ThinkFirst.

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Chapter of the Year Award
ThinkFirst Central Ohio, Ohio State University Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio
Ann Smith PhD, RN, CRRN, CNP accepting on her chapter’s behalf.

Ann Smith became the chapter director for ThinkFirst Central Ohio a little over a year ago and the program numbers have expanded tremendously, while increasing the visibility and recognition of the ThinkFirst program. Dr. Smith has taught 132 programs and reached 3,662 students during the 2008-2009 school year.

Dr. Smith presented at Grand Rounds to the PM&R medical staff at OSU in August 2008 and as a result of that, 26 staff people were trained to assist in presenting ThinkFirst programs in February of 2009. She obtained IRB approval from Ohio State University in October 2008 to study the effectiveness of the program and is currently completing a paper on this study. Dr. Smith currently serves on the ThinkFirst National Injury Prevention Foundation Efficacy subcommittee.

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State Chapter of the Year Award
ThinkFirst South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina
Bonnie Muntz-Pope, State Chapter Director accepting on her chapter’s behalf.

This past year, the South Carolina State ThinkFirst Director worked to establish a working relationship with the SC Dept. of Disabilities and Special Needs, Division of Head and Spinal Cord Injuries in order to establish additional ThinkFirst chapters in South Carolina. The state chapter received a grant through the Department of Disabilities to train new and existing chapter directors and volunteers, and in addition conduct two VIP workshops. They wrote a grant for the ThinkFirst Lowcountry chapter to receive this funding.

Georgia’s ThinkFirst State Chapter Director, Peter Coleman, assisted in the trainings. In October, 2008, a chapter director training workshop was in SC. Five chapters received training, along with the Program Manager for the Dept. of Disabilities and Special Needs grants and the Director of the division of Head and Spinal Cord Injuries. In February, 2009, two VIP workshops were conducted. As part of the grant, a minimum of 2 newsletters during the grant year are to be produced; the first was distributed in February 2009.

The South Carolina State Chapter is very pleased to have established this partnership with the Dept. of Disabilities and Special Needs and sees this as an ongoing relationship that will assist in educating the public on injury prevention and involving more VIPs and their families in ThinkFirst programming.

Congratulations to all of our 2009 ThinkFirst Award winners, chosen from submitted nominations by this year’s
Awards Committee.