Unintentional Injuries

Unintentional Injuries Children ages 4-7

Pedestrian, Bicycle, and Car seats

Increase age-appropriate vehicle restraint system used in children aged 4-7

Reduce pedal cyclist deaths on public roads

Reduce nonfatal pedestrian injuries on public roads

Objectives

Target population: Children Ages 4-7 years old

Denver, CO◦ Population – 619, 968◦ Persons under 5 years – 7.3%◦ Persons under 18 years – 21.5%

Target Population/Community

Many children under age 13 are not wearing proper restraints and are sitting in the front seat of the vehicle.

Many parents are unaware of the guidelines they need to be following for proper vehicle restraint.

Most children involved in automobile crashes are wearing restraints designed for older children or adults.

Literature Review

Pedestrian injury is the second leading cause of unintentional injury related death among children ages 5-14.

Adult seatbelts can lead to possible injury in children.

There are many programs that offer training on proper vehicle restraint, how to install one, and requirements.

What are the issues in Denver , CO?◦ Legalization of marijuana◦ Oil and gas drilling◦ Inappropriate vehicle restraint use for children

Social Assessment

Leading cause of death among children ages 1-14◦ Injuries – 17%◦ Homicide – 15%

Motor Vehicle Injury – 13.2%

Unintentional Injury – 26.7%

Infant Mortality – 7.8%

Unintentional injuries are the most common cause of death for the younger Denver residents. Why?

◦ Underdeveloped state of perceptual and cognitive skills.

◦ Lower attentive skills and peripheral vision.◦ Inability to make judgments regarding speed of

vehicles and how far away it actually is.

Unintentional Injuries

Unintentional Injury Death Rates ◦ Ages 1-4 – 8.6%◦ Ages 5-9 – 5.1%

Types of Injuries◦ Transportation-related – 10.9%

Epidemiological Assessment

Behavior ◦ Not using or wearing

age-appropriate vehicle restraint◦ Poverty levels◦ Individual behaviors (family)

Environmental◦ Laws not being enforced to use car seats and

boosters◦ Transportation options and public safety◦ Busy streets and roads

Behavioral/Environmental Assessment

“Children ages 4-8 (through their 8th birthday) must use either a car seat or booster. Effective, Aug. 1, 2011, if you are not in compliance with this law, you could face a fine of $82 or more.”

Policy Assessment

There are no mandatory helmet laws for bicyclists.

When riding a bike at night, a front white headlight is required.

Seatbelts are mandatory for the driver and all front seat passengers.

Policy Assessment Cont.

Children allowed in the front seat

Positive vs. Negative____________________________________________

PositiveMotivators - SafetyEnablers - Law/Access to car seats and boostersRewards - No fines

Educational Assessment

Negative

Motivators – Past historyEnablers – Turn off airbagsRewards – Not having to pay for car seats

Goals/Objectives

◦ Provide helmets and car seats to people who are unable to purchase them

◦ Provide information and safety tips regarding injury prevention, vehicle safety, and bicycle safety to both parents and children

Program

Location: City Park, Denver, CO

Free will donation

Sponsors providing helmets◦ Drawings to win a bike and or multiple safety car seats

(age-appropriate)

Junglemobile◦ Injury prevention (bike and helmet safety), child

passenger and seat belt safety, fall prevention, and pedestrian safety

Program

Informative Stations and Simulations◦ For both parents and children◦ “Kid friendly” educational safety tips

Child safety seat inspections

Community Park ◦ Location of event

Junglemobile◦ Provides effective injury prevention to children

and activities that they can participate in

Local bike stores◦ Provide helmets or other bike safety equipment

for event

Community Resources

Medical Center Safe Cars for Kids ◦ Provide car seat inspections and information,

provide seats for drawing at event

Children’s Hospital in Denver and Safe Kids Denver Metro◦ Provide assistance with stations, provide

education and information for stations, donate money for event

We will place an ad in the newspaper for people to see and understand what the even is about.

Posters/flyers will be posted around town and handed out at the local preschool and elementary schools.

How will we get people to come to the event?

We will look at previous stats on unintentional injuries/death rates and see if they decrease in the following year.

Brief surveys◦ To help evaluate the event◦ Also, give surveys to the people helping sponsor

and work the event

Evaluation Plan

Determinants of health. (2012, September 20). HealthyPeople 2020. Retrieved from http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/about/DOHAbout.aspx

Junglemobile. (2012). Children’s Hospital Colorado. Retrieved from http://www1.childrenscolorado.org/junglemobile /

Preventing accidental injury in children one stage at a time. (2012). Safe Kids Denver Metro. Retrieved from http://www.safekidsdenvermetro.com/skdm3/index.php?N_webcat_id=463

Safety first at children’s hospital colorado. (2012). Children’s Hospital Colorado. Retrieved from http://www.childrenscolorado.org/wellness/safety/index.aspx

Safe routes to school. (2012). U.S. Department of Transportation- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Retrieved from http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/pedbimot/bike/Safe-Routes-2002/toc.html

Resources

undefined. (2012). Community health status indicators. In U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Retrieved December 4, 2012, fromhttp://communityhealth.hhs.gov/AccessToCare.aspx?GeogCD=08041&PeerStrat=10&state=Colorado&county=El Paso.

undefined. (2012). Safety laws in Colorado. In DMV.org: The DMV Made Simple. Retrieved December 4, 2012, from http://www.dmv.org/co-colorado/safety-laws.php#Helmet-Laws.

undefined. (2012). An overview of Denver's health status and leading causes of death. In Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Retrieved December 4, 2012, from http://www.denvergov.org/Portals/261/documents/HSR2008/HSR2008_HealthStatusOverview.pdf.

Resources