As a pediatric surgeon at the University of Michigan’s Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center, Peter Ehrlich, M.D., M.H.S., sees the most severe types of pediatric trauma cases, often involving a combination of reckless behavior and drugs or alcohol.

Seeing case after case of these injuries inspired Ehrlich to seek a change. He wanted to motivate kids to curb the risky behavior before they show up in the U-M Trauma Center.

“For 14- to 17-year-old children there are two things that affect their health the most: lifestyle choices and injury, and often the two go hand in hand,” says Ehrlich, clinical associate professor, Department of Pediatric Surgery at the U-M Medical School. “We need to look at interventions to help teens make healthy decisions so they don’t end up hurt.”

While recent efforts across the nation have been more focused on college binge drinking, Ehrlich hopes to focus on those teenagers aged 14 to 17 who are abusing alcohol and drugs before college and often end up in the worst accidents.
“You can go and talk in the classroom, or put on an assembly at a high school, but frequently those kids who you really need to motivate and talk to are skipping out,” says Ehrlich.

That’s why Ehrlich wanted to intervene in the Trauma Center itself. He began a study involving routine drug screening for all hospitalized pediatric trauma patients at U-M. As a result, kids who test positive for alcohol and substance abuse are offered counseling and intervention programs at the time of hospitalization.

“To help alter this risk-taking behavior among our teens, it is essential that drug testing and brief substance abuse intervention programs be included in the treatment of all injured adolescents,” says Ehrlich.

As a Level 1 pediatric trauma center, routine drug screening for all injured patients ages 14 to 17 is part of the U-M Health System’s trauma protocol. But taking it a step further and providing intervention programs at the time of hospitalization is an extra step crucial to the prevention of further harm.

“We need to take the opportunity when adolescent patients are in our care to intervene and help prevent risk-taking behavior that may lead to future injury or even death,” says Ehrlich.

Ehrlich hopes that through his study and the interventions developed, U-M will lead the charge toward a comprehensive intervention and prevention program that can be applied across the country.