Injury prevention

The Association is committed to preventing spinal cord injuries by fostering community awareness through risk management and injury prevention activities – it’s in our Constitution.

Prevention is the only cure for a spinal cord injury so education and awareness are vital.

Coinciding with the success of our award-winning Spinal Education Awareness Team (SEAT) program the number of spinal cord injuries in QLD has dropped. We were once the worst state in the country; now we’re second lowest.

Despite that drop, with respect to spinal cord injuries in the workplace, we race back up to near the top of the scale and are second highest. The SEAT program has recently expanded to address safety in the workplace to hopefully help reduce these figures.

What is SEAT?

With accreditation approved by Education Queensland, the program aims to educate students and workers in at-risk professions on preventing spinal cord injuries and helping them to better understand people with paraplegia or quadriplegia. The program focuses on the consequences of life using a wheelchair after a spinal cord injury, and the presenters talk about the anatomy and physiology of the spine, as well as the effects of a spinal cord injury and how it changes your life forever.

Each presentation is targeted to suit specific groups. For primary schools, there are three versions of an interactive and fun multi-media program aimed at:

• Preps to Year 3
• Years 4 and 5
• Years 6 and 7.

For high schools, a powerful DVD is used that profiles young people who have sustained a spinal cord injury and are now living with paraplegia or quadriplegia.

For the workplace, a disability awareness component is built into the injury prevention program, which looks at how best to communicate with someone who has a disability to ensure they remain a valued customer or client.

The team

SEAT presenter workshop September 2008

The SEAT program has more than a dozen trained presenters located around Queensland who volunteer their time to help prevent spinal cord injuries.

The presenters are the power behind the program.

Each presenter has a spinal cord injury and uses a wheelchair. With engaging honesty, sincerity and humour, they provide compelling information and insight about life with a spinal cord injury.

In addition to strong safety messages, their presentations encourage greater understanding and awareness of people with a disability.