Fremont County-based Injury Prevention Resources receives 'Saving Lives Award'

A Fremont County-based organization has been recognized by The Governor's Council on Impaired Driving for its efforts to prevent impaired driving and impaired-driving related injuries and deaths.

Injury Prevention Resources received the Governor's Council on Impaired Driving's Saving Lives Award on Dec. 4 in Casper. The Wyoming Department of Transportation's workers at the Sundance Port of Entry and former Wyoming Attorney General Peter Michael also received awards during the GCID meeting.

"Injury Prevention Resources (IPR) has been helping to save lives on Wyoming roadways for more than 20 years," states IPR's award nomination. "In the past 10 years, Injury Prevention Resources has used GCID media during events, DUI probation, and DUI Monitoring Programs to save lives. Injury Prevention Resources, combined with GCID efforts, is educating Wyoming citizens on DUI prevention in a comprehensive way."

IPR's main program areas include DUI supervised probation, DUI monitoring, adult alcohol education events, child car seat educational events, Life R U Ready events, and #RoadWarrior events.

Between 2004-17, IPR has served 1,635 clients on DUI supervised probation, with a 67 percent successful completion rate. IPR's DUI supervised probation work has had a 7 percent recidivism rate.

Between 2011 and 2018, IPR's DUI monitoring program has served 258 clients, with a 92 percent completion rate. Only 3 percent (7 of 258) have returned to the IPR DUI monitoring program.

IPR's adult alcohol education includes events where court-ordered attendees are presented with local fatality data, with data focusing on impaired driving and lack of seat belt use, and guest speakers presenting stories of how DUIs have impacted their lives.

Between 1991 and 2018, IPR has hosted 324 of these education events, with 11,612 attendees and 1,817 guests.

IPR has served as the main child car seat inspection and distribution center for Fremont County since 2008. IPR statistics show 1,142 car seats inspected and 914 new car seats distributed since 2008. A noteworthy statistic provided by IPR shows that 86 percent of car seats are misused.

IPR has helped coordinate Life R U Ready events in Sweetwater and Fremont counties since 2012. The events have served 3,529 students in Sweetwater County and 2,490 students in Fremont County. More than 1,560 volunteers have participated in the day-long safety events.

Other IPR work includes: Prime For Life -- early intervention classes;  Gift of a Mothers Love car seat program;  TV news interviews, and social media and website presence for the sake of community safety; participant in annual highway safety/pedestrian safety jamboree on the Wind River Reservation; operator/keeper of distracted driving simulators; coordinator with the Wyoming Department of Transportation on seat belt survivor awards, public safety rodeos, bicycle helmet distribution, and crash car displays; and #RoadWarrior events where high-visibility enforcement operations are highlighted.

"Noel Cooper is a driving force/team builder behind these efforts to save lives in western Wyoming," said WYDOT public relations specialist and GCID member Cody Beers of Riverton, who wrote the GCID award nomination. "Without his efforts and his organization’s involvement as a partner in highway safety, there would be a huge hole in Fremont County’s efforts to save lives.

Beers has served as an appointee on The Governor's Council on Impaired Driving since 2010.
 
"The statistics speak for themselves. Injury Prevention Resources, under Noel Cooper’s leadership and his staff, help to augment the efforts of the Governor’s Council on Impaired Driving, WYDOT, and other local organizations," Beers continued. "We appreciate Noel’s work, his group's passion for highway safety and DUI prevention and rehabilitation, and his organization’s can-do attitude."
 
"I personally offer a special thanks to Noel Cooper and Injury Prevention Resources for partnering to save lives in Wyoming. Together, we can continue to help people make good choices before they climb behind the wheel. Together, we are saving lives," Beers said.

For information about this news release, please contact Cody Beers, WYDOT public relations specialist, at (307) 431-1803.

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The group photograph: Injury Prevention Resources staff members include, back row from left, IPR Executive Director Noel Cooper, DSP Agent Nichole Kilgore, Work Learning Program Assistant Brianna Vastine, DSP Agent Christl Bushkohl, front row from left, Traffic Safety Events Coordinator Pamela Johnson, DUI Monitoring Coordinator Dawn Lymburner, and Executive Assistant Michaela Stark. 
Dec. 16, 2019