Eight receive Injury Prevention Coalition annual awards
The Lee County Injury Prevention Coalition presented safety awards for 2023 who were instrumental in promoting safety through both the print and visual media.
Syndi Bultman, president of the Injury Prevention Coalition and Injury Prevention Resource coordinator with Lee Health, told the audience that although falls remain the number one trauma alert, progress is being made through positive public information. Roadway deaths continue to rise and Lee County citizens must help with reducing the number.
Bultman introduced the recipients of the awards (Winners are pictured left to right with Bultman on the far left).
• Lt. Greg Bueno, Florida Highway Patrol, received the Injury Prevention Coalition professional of the year award. He has served as the Public Information Officer overseeing an average of 75-100 hours a month of outreach. Bueno works with the Teen Driver Challenge program and Safe Kids Day.
• Ben Lutman, Creative Services producer, and Devin Turk, Creative Service manager, received the Injury Prevention Media Partner of the Year Health Matters award. They have reached over 720,000 individuals through their health reports. The two also completed a trauma video for the High-Risk Driver program for the Lee Health trauma program.
• Brian Raimondo, Lee MPO, immediate past president of the Injury Prevention Coalition, was awarded the Outstanding Community Service award. He served nine years as president of the IPC and was always available when fellow members had questions.
• Terri Erling and Angela Fischler, the United Way of Lee, Hendry, and Glades Counties, were given the Injury Prevention Sponsor/Partner of the Year award. They addressed two challenges in Lee County — the diversion of prescription drugs and providing disposable bags for the Lee Health Ambulatory clinics. They also were instrumental in supporting disposable bags for the outreach program for Take Back Day, the Fort Myers Police department’s method of disposing prescription drugs safely.
• Jody Van Cooney, a volunteer for Lee County non-profits, was given the Injury Prevention Coalition Volunteer of the Year award. She served IPC as secretary for a number of years, and provides safety-related news releases to community papers. She also works with the Pilot Club of Fort Myers in distributing bicycle helmets during a number of children’s events.
• Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno was unable to attend to receive the Injury Prevention Coalition’s Organization/Agency of the Year award. The sheriff’s office supports IPC’s Drug House Odyssey program in addition to serving the community in safety-related information and arresting violators.