Shine a green light on National Injury Prevention Day, November 18, 2020
March 11, 2020 - Injury Free Coalition for Kids National Office
Dear Injury Prevention Advocate,
Injuries are the leading cause of death and disability to U.S. children 1-18 years old. Every day 20 children needlessly die from preventable injuries – resulting in more deaths than all other diseases combined. But the good news is, many of these injuries are preventable with the use of safety practices and equipment and the implementation of strong legislation. To highlight the significance of injuries to children as well as the importance of injury prevention, the Injury Free Coalition for Kids™ will launch the country’s first “National Injury Prevention Day” on Wednesday, November 18, 2020. We invite your institution to join our multi-center, multi-city effort to work with your city and their landmarks in this important event.
The Injury Free Coalition for Kids® is among the country's most effective injury prevention programs. It is comprised of over 40 sites located in Level I Trauma Centers of 30 states across the country in all the country’s Federal Trauma Regions. These sites, including yours, have hospital-based, community-oriented injury prevention programs whose efforts are anchored in research, education, and advocacy. Each site has 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 are most prevalent and severe, most of the injuries addressed occur in urban environments. Coalition members work to empower the diverse populations who live there, and they address the injuries most prevalent in their areas.
Thank you for considering participating in our first National Injury Prevention Day, as part of the Injury Free Coalition for Kids® efforts to raise national awareness about childhood injury. Your site’s efforts in joining this movement for change will put you in good company. We know that only by working together can we create awareness and eventually much needed change to decrease preventable injuries in U.S. children and youth.
If you have questions, please contact E. Lenita Johnson at 816-651-7777.
Sincerely,
Lois K. Lee, MD, MPH
Board President, Injury Free Coalition for Kids
Senior Associate in Pediatrics, Division of Emergency Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital
Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Barbara Barlow, MD
Professor of Surgery in Epidemiology
Center for Injury Science and Prevention of Columbia University, Columbia University in New York
Executive Director and Founder – Injury Free Coalition for Kids