Champions of Care: What Does Home Eye Safety Month Mean to Vance Thompson Vision?

Bill Willis, Ambulatory Surgery Center Director for Vance Thompson Vision, joined Courtney Echerd to discuss the importance of eye safety and preventing injuries. Willis, a nurse for more than ten years, joined Vance Thompson Vision seven years ago, and his experiences exposed him to the many injuries that can damage an eye. Willis now works in the surgery center, and he offered up some of the causes of these injuries.

“We encounter eye injury cases up here where it could be fireworks or some other kind of blunt trauma to the eye,” Willis said. “It’s affected people’s vision in a big way, and we’re here for the surgical side of their eye health and care.”

Beyond accidental eye injuries, Willis said it is essential to go to routine visits with an optometrist to stay on top of any issues that could occur and become a problem and eventual safety concern. “With these regular eye exams normal, young, healthy eyes, you should be seen every one to two years,” Willis said.

And to avoid eye injuries, there are specific jobs, tasks, and situations where wearing protective eyewear makes sense and can help prevent severe damage. “The big things that come to mind for me are hammering metal or grinding metal; anything you’re probably doing in the shop,” Willis said. One mistake could lead to a permeant eye injury.