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Despite recent advances, unintentional injury still is the No. 1 killer of America's children taking more lives than disease, violence and suicide. In 1996 alone, nearly 6,300 children died from unintentional injuries and each year more than 14 million children—a staggering one out of four—are injured seriously enough to require medical attention.
Every one of these alarming statistics is somebody's child, which is why the National Safe Kids Campaign has committed itself to reducing unintentional injury by driving prevention strategies and reinforcing public awareness of the problem.
The National Safe Kids Campaign is the first national organization dedicated solely to the prevention of unintentional childhood injury. It was launched in 1988 to address what was then a little-recognized problem: More children under age 14 were being killed by what people call accidents (motor vehicle crashes, fires and other injuries) than by any other cause. The campaign's founders believe there is no such thing as an accident and that unintentional injuries can be prevented. They enlisted the support of corporations, government agencies and the health and safety community to reduce the incidence of childhood injury. Former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, M.D., Sc.D, came aboard as chairman of the campaign and Vice President Al Gore and Tipper Gore are honorary chairs.
The National Safe Kids Campaign relies on the support of more than 270 state and local Safe Kids Coalitions in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico to reach out to local communities with prevention messages. These dedicated professionals and volunteers have distributed nearly 1 million bicycle helmets, 500,000 car seats and 100,000 smoke alarms to families in need.
The coalitions work closely with law enforcement officers, firefighters, paramedics, medical and health professionals, educators, parents, grandparents, businesses, public policy makers and, most importantly, kids.
The campaign's aim is to stimulate changes in attitudes, behavior and the environment. From its inception, the campaign has relied on developing injury prevention strategies that work in the real world—conducting public outreach and awareness campaigns, stimulating hands-on grass-roots activity and working to make injury prevention a public policy priority. This ongoing actionable strategy accounts for the tremendous progress the National Safe Kids Campaign has made. In the past decade the unintentional injury death rate among children 14 and under has declined by 33 percent.
Injury Prevention Strategies
The proven science of injury prevention and control underpins all campaign initiatives. Decisions to focus on particular risk areas are data-driven—based on death and injury rates and the availability of effective preventive interventions. A team of public health specialists endeavors to translate injury prevention research into multi-faceted community-based strategies (e.g., Safe Kids Cycle Smart, Project Get Alarmed, and Safe Kids Buckle Up).
These experts provide technical assistance to state and local Safe Kids Coalitions to tailor, implement and evaluate these programs with one goal: to prevent injuries and save lives. The campaign has received awards from the Centers for Disease Control and the American Public Health Association for outstanding services in the area of injury prevention practice and advocacy.
Public Awareness and Education
A large part of prevention is educating parents, caregivers and children about the simple behavior modifications that can prevent needless tragedies. The National Safe Kids Campaign has been instrumental in getting vital safety messages to the public through low-cost or free educational materials including brochures, videotapes and posters.
Thousands of national and local news stories air as a result of the campaign and its coalitions' media efforts to raise widespread awareness of injury prevention and keep it foremost in the public mind. The campaign's national media coverage includes broadcast stories on the nation's highest audience programs including the "Today Show," "ABC World News Tonight," CNN newcasts and NPR's "All Things Considered." Print articles appear regularly in USA Today, Ladies' Home Journal and Parents magazines. The campaign has received the prestigious PRSA Silver Anvil award for its public education initiatives on three occasions.
Public Policy
The National Safe Kids Campaign and its coalitions rely on the help of policy-makers to institute child safety practices through effective laws. As a result of their efforts, federal, state and local lawmakers have aided children by passing and enforcing key safety legislation. Ten years ago, when the campaign was founded, only one state had a bicycle helmet law. Today, 15 states and many communities require youngsters to strap on a helmet while biking—and America now boasts a 40 percent reduction in the bicycle injury death rate.
Additionally, the campaign has helped pass, strengthen and enforce child occupant protection laws, smoke alarm laws and mandatory play-ground safety guidelines in communities across the country. The Con-sumer Product Safety Commission and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have honored Safe Kids for its injury prevention work.
Childhood Injury
The National Safe Kids Campaign has compiled the following information and statistics:
•In general, children are primarily at risk of unintentional injury-related death from: motor vehicle injuries, which include children as occupants, pedestrians and bicyclists; drowning; fire and burns; suffocation; choking; unintentional firearm injuries; poisoning; falls.
• Injury rates vary with a child's age, gender, race and socioeconomic status. Younger children, males, minorities and poor children suffer dispropor-tionately.
•Strangulation occurs among children when consumer products become wrapped around their necks. Common items include clothing drawstrings, ribbons or other decorations, necklaces, pacifier strings and window blind and drapery cords.
•Since 1981, more than 350 children have strangled on window covering cords. The majority of deaths occurred when the cord was hanging near the floor or crib, or when furniture was placed near the cord. Nearly 95 percent of these children were ages 3 and under.
•Among children under age 1, suffocation is the leading cause of unintentional injury-related death, followed by motor vehicle occupant injury, choking, drowning and fire and burns.
•Among children ages 14 and under, it is estimated that 40 percent of deaths and 50 percent of non-fatal unintentional injuries occur in and around the home.
• Injury is the leading cause of medical spending for children ages 5 to 14.
• The annual lifetime cost of unintentional injury among children ages 14 and under is nearly $175 billion, which includes $10.1 billion in direct medical costs, $16.9 billion in future earnings lost and $148 billion in quality of life.
•Every dollar spent on a child safety seat saves this country $32 in direct medical costs and other costs to society.
•It is estimated that as many as 90 percent of unintentional injuries can be prevented.
•A combination of education, environmental improvements, engineering modifications, enactment and enforcement of legislation and regulations, economic incentives, community empowerment and program evaluation are effective at reducing the incidence and severity of unintentional injury-related death and disability.
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