Unintentional Injuries

1. Unintentional Injuries Children ages 4-7 Pedestrian, Bicycle, and Car seats

2. Objectives • 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

3. Target Population/Community • 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%

4. Literature Review • 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.

5. 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.

6. Social Assessment • What are the issues in Denver , CO? • Legalization of marijuana • Oil and gas drilling • Inappropriate vehicle restraint use for children

7. 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%

8. Unintentional Injuries • 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.

9. Epidemiological Assessment • Unintentional Injury Death Rates • Ages 1-4 – 8.6% • Ages 5-9 – 5.1% • Types of Injuries • Transportation-related – 10.9%

10. Behavioral/Environmental 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

11. Policy 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.”

12. Policy Assessment Cont. • 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.

13. Educational Assessment • Children allowed in the front seat • Positive vs. Negative ____________________________________________ Positive Motivators - Safety Enablers - Law/Access to car seats and boosters Rewards - No fines

14. Negative Motivators – Past history Enablers – Turn off airbags Rewards– Not having to pay for car seats

15. Program • 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

16. 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

17. Informative Stations and Simulations • For both parents and children • “Kid friendly” educational safety tips • Child safety seat inspections

18. Community Resources • 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

19. 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

20. How will we get people to come to the 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.

21. Evaluation Plan • 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

22. Resources • 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

23. 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.