Injury Prevention

Preventing common injuries in kids

The Injury Prevention (IP) Service is located within our Level 1 trauma center, which is the only Level 1 trauma center in the region. This center works to help children overcome even the most severe trauma-related injuries – many of which are unintentional. Seeing these injuries gives us first-hand knowledge of how childhood injuries happen and how to prevent them. The IP Service works with community organizations, builds coalitions and conducts research on ways to prevent common traumatic injuries in kids. 

Pediatric injury prevention research and resources

The IP service includes public health professionals who follow trends regarding what endangers kids the most. Our research tracks how the top threats to children’s safety change over time. 

This research guides our priorities for campaigns that target the biggest contributors to childhood injury and death. Recent campaigns have included:

• Car seat safety - Helping parents and caregivers get the best car seats for their children and use them as safely as possible. This includes customized car seat checkups and providing car seats to people who need them

• Water safety - Educating parents, caregivers and kids on the most important information for staying safe in and around water. We also provide life jackets to children in need

• Safe sleep advocacy - Preventing sleep-related injury and death by teaching parents and caregivers safer sleep practices

• Firearm safety - Engaging parents, caregivers and providers to identify the best ways to keep kids away from firearms 

The IP team uses this injury prevention information to provide physicians, legislatures and the community with best practices on preventing traumatic injuries in children. 

Legislative and grassroots advocacy for injury prevention in children

Our research helps lawmakers make important decisions about policies that keep kids safe from harm – in their homes and communities. We also educate politicians at the state and local level on how important it is to anticipate and prevent injury in children. Policies aimed at helping prevent injuries can protect large numbers of children, such as car seat bills and incentives for homeowners to add pool fences. These policies also help educate communities about how to keep their children safe.

Unintentional injury is the number one cause of death among children. These injuries include activity-based, chemical, electrical and other injuries, as well as those that involve water. Childhood injuries can happen in a matter of seconds, but the good news is that they are preventable. The Injury Prevention (IP) Service at Children’s Health℠ is dedicated to helping prevent these injuries and save lives. 

Our team of experts knows the situations that most often lead to unintentional injury among children. We use local, regional and national data to keep our finger on the pulse of injury-related trends among children. We use this information to: 

• Educate physicians on ways to work with families on treating and preventing unintentional injuries in kids

• Build programming to educate the community about keeping children safe from injury

• Create initiatives to support community members in their efforts to keep kids safe

• Engage in legislative and grassroots advocacy to bolster policy-based efforts that protect and prioritize kids’ safety

• Provide hospital-based services to patients and their families