CNN Heroes: Dr. Carnell Cooper

[MsKrispyKreme]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/03/25/cnnheroes.carnell.cooper/index.html

Excerpt:

Dr. Carnell Cooper, a Baltimore surgeon, is saving lives inside and outside the operating room.

Dr. Carnell Cooper's Violence Intervention Program provides training and support to trauma victims.


Since becoming a trauma surgeon 16 years ago, he has dedicated himself to treating the many young African-American men who've been shot, stabbed or beaten, only to see them return to the ER with another severe injury just months later.

But when one of his patients was readmitted with a fatal gunshot wound to the head in 1996, it changed Cooper's life.

"The night that we pronounced that young man dead and my colleagues said there's really nothing we can do in these situations. ... I just didn't believe that," said Cooper, 54. "From that day forward, I said, 'Let's see what we can do.' "

Cooper created the Violence Intervention Program (VIP) at the Shock Trauma Unit of the University of Maryland Medical Center, the state's busiest hospital for violent injuries. It became one of the country's first hospital-based anti-violence programs.

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[CMBdoc]

Thanks for sharing, Dr. Cooper is an amazing role model for all young people to emulate. Maybe if enough of us "make it" we can change the tragic mentality of some of our peers.

 

[MsKrispyKreme]

Thank you for replying.

I was disappointed that nobody else had even bothered to reply.

 

[AUS4]

Dr Cooper is one of my motivators. I used to live in the Baltimore region and volunteered in the one of the cities ED's, which elevated my interest in EM/Trauma. Dr Cooper was also featured on Discovery Health's "Life in the ER" some years back. I used to watch in amazement as he took command of a trauma code at Shock Trauma .

 

[redlight]

chyea ive heard of him and his program. he's doing good work...