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Ms. Hill began serving as Program Coordinator of Injury Free Chicago two years after the site was established in 1995. Amy’s work has focused on preventing unintentional injuries—playground, home (window falls, poisoning, safe sleep), bike, pedestrian, and child passenger safety. She has led efforts that have improved the health and well-being of Chicago children. In 1995, Injury Free Chicago built its first community built playground— since then Amy has led the way for the building of all but one of 25 playgrounds Injury Free Chicago has built. She became a certified playground inspector and partnered with a parks advocacy group, surveyed the 500 park district playgrounds for safety and provided the information to the park district. The information was used to make simple repairs but it was also the catalyst to make changes when it clear that replacement playgrounds were needed. The Park District used Injury Free Chicago’s data to inform the prioritization of replacing 350 playgrounds. The efforts were published in a paper describing, Playground Safety and Quality in Chicago, in Pediatrics (http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/131/2/233). In addition, Amy inspects all of the head start playgrounds in Chicago for their NAEYC certification requirements. She is Chicago’s only certified playground inspector. Amy’s second quantifiable achievement is found in the site’s Stop the Falls campaign, a citywide coalition led by Lurie Children’s Hospital and coordinated by Amy. Stop the Falls uses public health education and safety product distribution to prevent window falls. The effort 15 years ago and its findings were reported at the AAP in Chicago this fall. They demonstrate a significant decrease in falls from windows through the site’s collective efforts. Amy has demonstrated significant leadership qualities with multiple examples of innovation. When funding issues caused some years of lean staffing, Amy developed some strategies to extend community reach. Over the past decade, Injury Free Chicago has distributed between 12-15,000 home safety bags. When the site had sufficient staffing, a train the trainer model of in person training to community agency allowed agency to then teach their clients. When the site’s staff no longer allowed this time-consuming delivery, Amy developed an on-line training curriculum for community partners. It’s a process they actually preferred because lessons could be viewed at a time that works the trainee’s schedule. Amy also helped the hospital’s volunteer office create a community volunteer corps which provides safety information at community events. Although health fairs aren’t the most effective strategy in promoting health, Injury Free Chicago finds them helpful to promote simple safety messages, especially when providing safety products such as window sash stops and bike helmets. Amy has formed relationships with many local, county, and state organizations. She works with many health departments including Chicago’s, Cook County’s, and others across the state. She partners with multiple safety focused organizations such as other hospitals, Kids in Danger, Illinois Poison Center, and the Ounce of Prevention. She is on the health advisory committees of several head start coalitions. She collaborates with multiple community agencies including home visiting programs and after school programs. She works with multiple alderman on safety initiatives and with local schools. She is on state task forces including one that focusses on safe sleep. During the last several years, Amy has become much more engaged in media activities. It was something she had previously shied away, but now proves to be quite competent. On TV, Amy is calm and reassuring to parents in addition to being extremely knowledgeable. She has done TV, radio, and print on several different safety topics. Lately, she has been doing Facebook Live sessions, a format that site has found as an effective way to promote injury prevention education.
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Mailing Address:
Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
225 E. Chicago Ave, #157
Chicago, IL 60611
Email Address:
alhill@luriechildrens.org
Phone Number:
312-227-6692