Recent National Events

RENDEZ VOUS 2011






About twenty young people took part in a Drive Your Care/Drive Your Car workshop at Rendez-vous 2011. The day began with a presentation by Dr. Dawn Goodyear of Calgary’s Southern Alberta Rare Blood and Bleeding Disorders Comprehensive Care Program. The topic of her presentation was pain management and the use of drugs to control pain. During the presentation, Dr. Goodyear asked young people to consider all aspects of their pain and their level of tolerance for each aspect. The issue of medication dependence was also broached, and Dr. Goodyear presented a pain scale with the medications generally prescribed for each level of pain. The presentation was very instructive and gave young people who generally have little or no joint pain a more long-term picture of health care issues and the options open to them.

Hélène Bourgaize then facilitated a quiz game on the history of the Canadian Hemophilia Society and the evolution of health care in Canada and around the world. Three hard-driving teams battled it out before a captive audience. The players participated enthusiastically in this very informative game, which provided an opportunity to learn more about the different bleeding disorders. 

The last part of the day was devoted to road safety and driving a car. I bet you’re wondering what the link is between hemophilia and driving a car! The parallels are actually quite easy to make. The human body works like a car. Sometimes both need emergency care. But more important, and this is often forgotten, both need frequent daily care to ensure the longevity of their parts. The training session given by the company Thinking Drivers looked at emergency procedures during skid control and accidents as well as mechanical maintenance such as changing tires, spark plugs or oil. Drunk driving prevention was also on the agenda as was the importance of wearing a seat belt to prevent deaths during accidents. Video clips were shown to help participants understand the concepts presented.  Our thanks to Bayer for sponsoring this workshop, which was a success from start to finish. 





YOUTH LEADERSHIP WORKSHOP