Jane Edwards, MSc, the Injury Free London Ontario Program Coordinator has what her colleagues have called a unique energy, great optimism, and an uncanny ability to see solutions when no one else can. She has taken those traits, and what they describe as innovative ideas, tireless creativity, attention to detail and the ability to complete any task at hand, to build injury prevention efforts at a local, provincial, and national level in Canada. After working with her more than a decade Neil Merritt, MD, FRCSC, FAAP, the Medical Director of Trauma at Children's Hospital London Health Sciences Center, said the Injury Prevention specialist is known for her willingness to help anyone at any time. Injury prevention programs she has been instrumental in creating include: The Period Of Purple Crying, bicycle and motorcycle safety, distracted driving safety, Informing Teens Preventing Injuries (IMPACT), and road safety initiatives. She is well organized, diligent in completing tasks, easily approachable, and performs beyond expectations.
Dr. Merritt said he has discovered Jane to be tried and true, proficient, and consistently unfailing in her approach to the injury prevention program. He also talked about Ms. Edwards' superior interpersonal skills, ability to work equally well independently or with a group, and her strong leadership skills when involved in prevention projects. She is well liked and respected by both peers and management. Dr. Merritt went on to say Ms. Edwards is eager to share an extensive network at a variety of levels, and this serves to increase her effectiveness as a prevention specialist.
The Ministry of Transportation West Region Marketing Planner Sean Wraight says he feels his work has benefited from her enthusiasm, tireless energy, innovative ideas, and her detail oriented ability to complete any task on hand. He says he believes the city and the region are safer because of the work she has done and continues to do. The power of the partnerships Ms. Edwards brings to the table and leads were described as impressive.
Similar to Dr. Merritt, he also talked about IMPACT, which is an in school and in hospital presentation by the London Health Sciences Center injury prevention team in partnership with Middlesex London EMS, London Police Services, Thames Valley District School Board, and St. Joseph's Health Care London. IMPACT aims to inform teens about preventing injuries with topics including impaired driving (drugs and alcohol), fatigued driving, distracted driving, and generally making good choices on the road. He said she was helpful in bringing the IMPACT program to the London and Southwest Catchment areas. The expansion of the program in these regions required extensive partnerships, organization and resources. In his words, Ms. Edwards provides all three, and without her ability to bring in a wide variety of experts and provide a large range of resources to meet the students and organize each community event with the local schools, hospitals, students, and police, the students would have missed out on an incredible opportunity.
Also among her notable achievements is the development of the Southwest Injury Prevention Network (SWIPN). It is a working group of professionals in Southwest Ontario who, with Ms. Edward's guidance, developed a conference called "Not by Accident." The conference focuses on Road Safety and provides public health, police, trauma centers, students, and other professionals the opportunity to learn, analyze, and ultimately implement road safety initiatives based on discussions.
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The Injury Free Coalition for Kids is located in the Columbia University Medical Center for Injury Epidemiology and Prevention. It is among the country's most effective injury prevention programs. Injury Free is comprised of hospital-based, community-oriented injury prevention sites whose efforts are anchored in research, education, and advocacy. Located in all of the countries Federal Trauma Regions, there are 39 sites across 30 states and one international site in Ontario Canada. Each site is housed in the trauma center of its participating institution. They are all independent, physician-led programs driven by the Coalition's mission: preventing injury to children. While research determines where the injuries take place and which ones most prevalent and severe, most of the injuries addressed occur in urban environments, and Coalition members work to empower the diverse populations who live there.
Estell Lenita Johnson
estelljohnson@sbcglobal.net
