
Hudson, Florida (June 16, 20177) – Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point announces that it has awarded a $500 prize to the students of Ridgewood High School for the “most improved safety belt use” while driving in the “Battle of the Belts.”
“Battle of the Belts” promotes seatbelt use among teens. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for American teenagers. In fact, when it comes to motor vehicle crashes, teens have the highest fatality rate of any age group. They also have the lowest safety belt use rates of all drivers. This rate is even lower where there are multiple teens in the vehicle. The “Battle of the Belts” program was initiated in an effort to change these statistics and increase safety belt use among teenagers with our partners Safe Kids of Pasco County.
This year in Pasco County a campaign was recently conducted at participating high schools with our partners Safe Kids/ Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital. The goal was to have high school students convince their peers to always wear their safety belts. Student organizations were asked to create a unique campaign for their high school to encourage fellow students to wear their seatbelts during every ride in a motor vehicle.
There were several award categories such as highest seatbelt use, most improved seatbelt use, best school campaign, best public service announcement, best poster, and best essay. The trauma center at Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point sponsored the prize for the most improved seatbelt use. Ridgewood High School had the highest percent of increased safety belt use in Pasco County.
About Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point
Regional Medical Center Bayonet has been serving the community since 1981. We are a 290-bed acute care hospital located in Hudson, FL and home of the nationally acclaimed Heart Institute. We have more than 350 physicians, 1,264 employees and 500 volunteers on our integrated healthcare delivery team.
Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point has achieved distinction in the following areas:
- Level II Trauma Center
- Accredited by The Joint Commission
- Accredited Chest Pain Center with PCI by the Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care (SCPC)
- Healthgrades Multi-Award Recipient
o Five Star Recipient for Hip Fracture Treatment for 13 years in a row (2005-2017)
o Five Star Recipient for Back Surgery eight years in a row (2010 – 2017)
o Five Star Recipient for Repair of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm for two years in a row (2016 – 2017)
o Recipient of Healthgrades 2017 Patient Safety Excellence Award™
o Named among the top 5% in the nation for Patient Safety in 2017
o Five Star Recipient for Appendectomy for three years in a row (2015 – 2017)
- Certified Advance Primary Stroke Center – Joint Commission
- MRI, CT, Ultrasound, and Nuclear Medicine Accredited – American College of Radiology
- Approved Community Cancer Program – American College of Surgery
- Joint Commission Disease-Specific Certifications: primary stroke center, sepsis
- Awarded full Atrial Fibrillation Certification status from the Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care (SCPC)
- Accredited Teaching Facility by the American Osteopathic Association, Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education
Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point is located at 14000 Fivay Road, Hudson, FL. 34667. For additional information on Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point visit www.rmchealth.com or www.heartoftampa.com or visit us on Facebook.