November 1, 2022 - Injury Free Coalition for Kids National Office
(New York) While attention is being focused on new COVID variants and increasing numbers of children battling RSV, some healthcare providers and community advocates across the country are working to expose two other elements of concern: injuries and violence. They are the number one killer and cause of hospitalization of people 1 to 44 years old and many of them are preventable with the use of safety practices, products, and the implementation of strong legislative policies. An understanding of the urgency is leading the country's top injury and violence prevention organizations to join forces Friday, November 18, 2022, for the third annual National Injury Prevention Day.
The day will begin with a one-hour webinar at 10:00 am EST, where Christopher Jones, PharmD, DrPH, MPH, the CDC's Acting Director for the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) and a US Public Health Service Captain will join the country's top injury and violence prevention organizations to sound the alarm about the need for prevention.
The Injury Free Coalition for Kids, Safe Kids Worldwide, Safe States Alliance, the American Trauma Society, the American Academy of Pediatrics, Be SMART -- a program of Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, The Society for Advancement of Violence and Injury Research, the Trauma Center Association of America, JPMA Cares and I'm Safe will be among those working to raise awareness about the need for change and to provide communities the tools to make it happen.
"It takes all of us to make a difference," Barbara Barlow, MD, Professor of Surgery in Epidemiology at Columbia University and Founder of the Injury Free Coalition for Kids said. "Working together gives us a strong voice and we are working to bring in the voices of others."
TCAA's Injury Prevention Committee will present the winners of its Nationwide NIPD media contest "What Safety Looks Like in Your Community." Safe States will share the outcome of an NIPD sign-on to an organizational support letter. At 1:00 p.m. (EST), the public is invited to join everyone and take part in a live national conversation about the country's top injury and violence concerns during a one-hour twitter chat using the hashtag #BeInjuryFree.
This is a day about more than talk. It is about action. A number of cities will focus on, be shown how to use and be given tools to create safer environments by addressing specific preventable injuries: Phoenix will address safe sleep, Kansas City will address fire prevention, Hartford will look at bike safety, Austin and Baltimore are among cities addressing child passenger safety, Chicago will hold a baby safety shower, and Little Rock, Burlington, and Boston will cover a variety of injury prevention topics including CPS, sports injuries, pediatric mental health, suicide, violence, and home injuries as they host seminars and conferences. To learn more about what's being done in other cities across the country go to https://injuryfree.org/nationalinjurypreventionday/2022.
As the sun goes down that day, hospitals, landmarks, businesses, monuments, neighborhoods, and government offices will be asked to shine a green light to raise awareness about the need for change. Among the places to be lit are the Hemsley building on Park Avenue in New York, St. Louis Ferris Wheel, the Johns Hopkins and City of Baltimore Domes, stadiums that serve as homes to the Baltimore Ravens and the Minnesota Vikings, The John Hancock Building in Chicago, and bridges in Arkansas, Houston and Worcester. Go to https://injuryfree.org/nationalinjurypreventionday/2022 for more information about who is lighting up in green.
For more information about National Injury Prevention Day or to arrange an interview in advance, please contact E. Lenita Johnson 816-651-7777 or e-mail estelljohnson@sbcglobal.net.
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The Injury Free Coalition for Kids is a part of the outreach arm of the ICRC located in the Columbia University Center for Injury Science and Prevention
