CSN Discuss Bulletin

Residential Injuries

November 2004

This bulletin comes to you from the Children's Safety Network through CSN Discuss, an electronic forum for the discussion of child and adolescent injury and violence prevention and related issues.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

News and Developments
  1. New Resources for Teachers from the Home Safety Council
  2. Preventing Fire Deaths and Injuries: CDC Activities
  3. Home Visiting Program: SAFE KIDS At Home
Articles and Reports
  1. Article: A clinical trial of home safety intervention
  2. Article: Washing machine related injuries in children
  3. Article: Children’s falls from apartment balconies and windows
  4. Report: Fires Ignited by Lighters and Matches

AVAILABILITY

Copies of many items can be delivered to state Maternal and Child Health and state public health staff upon request. Articles available by e-mail are so indicated. Some other articles can be faxed or mailed. To request an article or other publication, e-mail jhudson@edc.org with the item name, delivery preference (e-mail, fax number, or mailing address). This service is restricted to state Maternal and Child Health and state public health staff. Restricted time and resources forbids us from delivering articles to others.

URLs of publications that can be downloaded from the web are included in the bibliographic information.

News and Developments
  1. New Resources for Teachers from the Home Safety Council

    The Home Safety Council has launched a new collection of resources to teach children how to spot common problems that could lead to falls, poisonings, fires/burns, choking, and drowning, and other hazards. These resources include:
    • CodeRedRover.org: An interactive home safety website which offers games, activities, home safety checklists and tips for parents and kids that will help families take actions to mkae their homes safer. The newly re-vamped site also includes home safety lessons that teachers can share in the classroom and children can access at home. The site can be found at http://www.coderedrover.org/
    • Weekly Reader curriculum: The Home Safety Council, in partnership with Weekly Reader, a leading education company, has developed two home-safety classroom curricula. The first, Safety Rangers Spot Dangers, teaches children how to spot home hazards. The second, Safety Rangers Know the Drill, is dedicated to fire safety. Both programs include lesson plans, children’s activities, and home safety checklists. They are available online at http://www.homesafetycouncil.org/home/home_april_w002.aspx
    • The Great Safety Adventure is a traveling exhibit that unfolds into a 1,200 square foot “house” that features a true-to-life living space in which children learn about four important home safety risk areas: fire and burn prevention; falls prevention; choking, suffocation and strangulation prevention; and poison prevention. For more information on bringing the Great Safety Adventure to your community, see http://www.homesafetycouncil.org/programs/pr_gsa_w001.aspx
  2. Preventing Fire Deaths and Injuries: CDC Activities

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is working in partnership with the United States Fire Administration (USFA), the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), and several private organizations on a national effort to eliminate residential fire deaths by the year 2020. This initiative includes research into the risk factors for residential fire-related injuries; data collection and analysis to track trends and progress; a community-based smoke alarm installation and fire safety education project; and a pilot project to examine a community-based Civilian Fire Safety Corps, whose primary purpose is to conduct fire safety education. For more information about these programs, visit http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/fireactivities.htm.
  3. Home Visiting Program: SAFE KIDS At Home

    The National SAFE KIDS Campaign, in partnership with CDC, has distributed 10 grants of up to $10,000 each to support SAFE KIDS coalitions as they partner with their local health department home visiting groups to implement the SAFE KIDS At Home program. This program's objective is to increase home safety in low-income and immigrant communities and involves training home visitors to conduct home safety checks, educating families and raising community awareness about home safety, and distributing safety devices. For more information about this program, visit
    http://www.safekids.org/tier3_cd.cfm?content_item_id=373&folder_id=361
Articles and Reports
  1. Posner JC, Hawkins LA, Garcia-Espana F, Durbin DR.
    A randomized, clinical trial of a home safety intervention based in an emergency department setting.
    Pediatrics. 2004 Jun;113(6):1603-8.

    This study, conducted by the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, assessed the effectiveness of an emergency department (ED)-based home safety intervention on caregivers' practices. The researchers conducted a randomized, clinical trial of 96 caregivers of children who were younger than 5 years and presented to an urban pediatric ED for evaluation of an acute unintentional injury sustained in the home. The study found that this educational and device disbursement intervention was effective in improving the home safety practices of caregivers of young children and suggests that EDs are very effective places in which to disseminate home injury prevention information.

    Availability: e-mail or hard copy.
  2. Warner BL, Kenney BD, Rice M.
    Washing machine related injuries in children: a continuing threat.
    Injury Prevention. 2003 Dec; 9(4): 357-60.

    This study analyzes data on washing machine-related injuries in children in the United States. It found that fewer than 10 percent of children injured by washing machines were admitted to hospitals. The authors concluded that many of these injuries could be avoided with improvements in machine design and better supervision of children. They suggest that health professionals should have a major role in public education regarding these seemingly benign household appliances.

    Availability: e-mail or hard copy.
  3. Istre GR, McCoy MA, Stowe M, Davies K, Zane D, Anderson RJ, Wiebe R.
    Childhood injuries due to falls from apartment balconies and windows.
    Injury Prevention. 2003 Dec; 9(4): 349-352.

    This study, by the Injury Prevention Center of Greater Dallas, investigated the circumstances around falls by children from apartment balconies and windows and attempted to identify measures for their prevention. The study found that two factors make an important contribution to falls from apartment windows and balconies: balcony rails more than 4 inches apart and windows positioned low to the floor. The authors suggest that environmental modifications may prevent most of these falls.

    Availability: e-mail or hard copy.
  4. U.S. Fire Administration.
    Fires ignited by lighters and matches.
    Topical Fire Research Series. 2004 October; 4(1):1-7.

    This report examines the causes and characteristics of lighter and match fires in the United States, based on 2002 National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) data. Thirty-seven percent of these fires were started by children aged 10–17. The report is available online at
    http://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/tfrs/v4i1.pdf

Next month's CSN Discuss Bulletin will focus on traffic safety.

Please direct questions about this bulletin to Irene Simon at:

Children's Safety Network

Education Development Center

55 Chapel Street

Newton, MA 02458

Phone: 617-618-2420

Fax: 617-969-9186

Email: isimon@edc.org

http://www.childrenssafetynetwork.org/