Injury Prevention Education
Community involvement
As a trauma centre, we feel strongly about our role in injury prevention, public awareness, education and being available for community outreach initiatives. For 15 years, the programs' experts have been involved in hundreds of media alerts, press conferences, and interviews aimed at educating the public, making them aware of the risks and providing sound recommendations for safety and injury prevention. The MCH Trauma Programs monitor injury trends in order to alert parents and caregivers of potential dangers, develop community outreach projects and implement research initiatives. A close working relationship exists with the Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting & Prevention Program (CHIRPP) coordinator and the Medical Archivist.
In 1997 following the death of a teen from injuries sustained in gym class while using a trampoline, the MCH Trauma Programs, in conjunction with the Department of Community Paediatrics of the MCH, called for the ban of trampolines in schools, leading to a resolution to ban them, passed by the Federation of Quebec Home and School Associations. Also in 1997, the Trauma Programs alerted municipalities about the importance of securing soccer nets in parks and schools after several children sustained severe brain injuries from falling nets. In 2002, the trauma team noticed a significant increase in minor hockey injuries and went public to urge parents and coaches to take simple precautions to prevent players from being injured. In 2003, the MCH, as a partner with Safe Kids Canada, held a joint press conference calling for the ban of baby walkers. In 2005, the team exposed the potential danger, especially to young children, of playing paintball after a 10-year-old boy nearly lost an eye at an indoor paintball facility. Later that same year, the team appealed to municipal officials to develop standards for recreational diving boards. In 2007, the MCH embarked upon a province-wide water safety campaign. In the fall of 2008, the MCH launched a road safety campaign.
Some other examples of press conferences and media alerts include:
- Water safety (June – August 2009)
- Road safety in collaboration with Safekids Canada (May 2008)
- Bunk bed safety (April 2008)
- Preventing concussions and the Launch of the MCH Concussion KiT (December 2007)
- Falls from windows through screens (July 2007)
- Injuries from paintball (June 2007)
- Holiday and toy safety (December 2006)
- Diving board safety (August 2006)
- Pedestrian safety (May 2006)
- Blind cord strangulations (March 2006)
- Icy school yards alert (March 2006)
- Holiday safety (December 2005)
- Wheel sports safety (seasonal)
- Winter sports safety (seasonal)
- Back to school tips (seasonal)
- Backpack injury prevention alert (September 2005)
- Public service announcements (assorted topics) (2005-2006)
- Backyard trampoline press conference (July 2004)
- Car seat safety and the results of our car seat verification clinic (May 2004)
- Rise in minor hockey injuries alert (November 2002)
The Trauma Programs have also developed a series of trauma and injury prevention pamphlets that are readily available to the public and are currently widely used in schools, paediatricians' offices, community centres and CSSSs.
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