"A Dose of Reality" Program Overview

Linda Dutil touches young people’s lives with a personal blend of seriousness, humor, and emotion. Her experience as an emergency room nurse has taught her that many choices young people make make often end tragically. 

For the past several years she has been speaking to thousands of elementary middle school, high school, and college students across the country about the dangers of drug use, underage drinking, alcohol poisoning, drinking & driving, driver and seatbelt safety. Intervention skills are an important part of this program. Linda shares ways to say no and very importantly, things to do if your friend has made poor choices and has been drinking. (Very often young people are at a party and they panic when their friend is in trouble.) 

This program brings with it a strong emphasis to always get help for your friends and why that is critical … no matter what the circumstance is.

Linda doesn’t lecture. She simply shares with students in a 45-minute assembly format what happens to them when they make poor choices. She shares personal, age appropriate stories of young people that she has cared for. By demonstrating the emergency room overdose or alcohol poisoning scene, she shows students exactly what they will experience if rushed to the hospital. 

This program is not graphic and not at scared-straight approach. It is straight forward though. Linda’s program never fails to get and keep the student’s attention. 

“All programs can be modified. Topics not listed can be address upon request.”

  1. 5th grade program topics addressed:
    • Peer pressure
    • Drugs – “good drugs can be bad drugs”
    • Drugs – “drug dealers … they can be so tricky”
    • Tobacco and drugs and addiction – “all kinds of ways to put drugs into your body”
    • Alcohol – age appropriate story of 2 boys and why you should always call for help
    • Sometimes it’s “hard to say no”
    • Vaping Dangers
  2. Middle school program topics addressed:
    • Peer pressure
    • How to get help for your friends
    • Dangers of underage drinking
    • Drugs – unknown pills or substances – “you can never trust what’s in something”
    • Interactive demonstration of how your life is saved in the E.R.
    • Vaping Dangers
  3. High school program topics addressed:
    • Peer pressure
    • How to get help for your friends
    • Dangers of underage drinking – “alcohol poisoning … how it happens”
    • Interactive demonstration of how your life is saved in the E.R.
    • Drugs – general overview
    • Vaping Dangers
  4. College program topics addressed:
    • Recognizing alcohol poisoning and understand BAL (blood alcohol level)
    • Alcohol absorption – how alcohol is metabolized – “why your friend doesn’t immediately appear drunk.”
    • Alcohol poisoning – “how do I know that my friend has had too much to drink?”
    • Opiates – “at what point in history did this wonder drug turn into an epidemic of abuse?”
    • Drugs – general overview of drug categories … including overviews of stimulants, depressants, narcotics, steroids, hallucinogens
    • Interactive demonstration of how your life is saved in the E.R.
  5. Military program topics addressed:
    • Recognizing alcohol poisoning and understanding BAL (blood alcohol level)
    • Alcohol absorption – how alcohol is metabolized – “why your friend or family member doesn’t immediately appear drunk.”
    • Have you had a setback with drugs or alcohol? “Failure is not final.”
    • Opiates – “at what point in history did this wonder drug turn into an epidemic of abuse?”
    • Drugs – general overview of drug categories … including overviews of stimulants, depressants, narcotics, steroids, hallucinogens
    • Interactive demonstration of how your life is saved in the E.R.

Presentation Guidelines

Length: 45 minutes. The duration can be shortened or lengthened to meet the needs of the participating school. Question and answer time after the assembly is welcomed.

Venue and audience size requirements:

If the venue is an auditorium:

  1. There needs to be a sound system provided.
  2. No limit on audience size.
  3. The stage needs to be “well lit.”

If the venue is a gymnasium:

  1. There needs to be a sound system provided.
  2. Preferred audience size is between 200 and 600 students.
  3. The students can only be on one side of the gym. It is very important that they are all in front of me. (If there is an overflow of students, they may sit on the floor in front of the bleachers.)
  4. If the school is large and the student body will not fit on one side of the gym, then the administrators will often choose one or two grades to target. (Depending on health curriculum that may tie in, or current issues at the school involving drugs/alcohol.)

If the venue is a cafeteria:

  1. There needs to be a sound system provided.
  2. There needs to be a stage at the end of the cafeteria or the school needs to provide risers or some sort of platform for me to stand on.
  3. If this is not possible, and I am standing at floor level, then the students need to be sitting on the floor. 

Audio-Visual Needs Please:

  • Microphone – hand-held (corded or cordless ) cannot be clip-on/lavaliere or a headset.
  • One medium sized table
  • One chair
  • Computer, Projector, and Screen for Power Point (No sound with the PowerPoint. PowerPoint is shown at end of presentation only.)

Summary

“A Dose of Reality” is a unique presentation. Dutil’s sincere and engaging personality shines in this energetic and interactive program. Her compassion and emotion grabs you, pulls you in, and leaves you with a new respect for your physical and mental health.

This assembly does make a lasting difference in young people’s lives. In a very appealing yet straightforward manner, Dutil delivers a fascinating……….dose of reality!

Active Member of ENA and NASRO

EMERGENCY NURSES ASSOCIATION LOGO. (PRNewsFoto/Emergency Nurses Association)

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