Citation

Lee LK. Inj. Epidemiol. 2020; 7(Suppl 1): e29.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, The author(s), Publisher Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group - BMC)

DOI

10.1186/s40621-020-00248-z

PMID

32532335

Abstract

This year we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Injury Free Coalition for Kids®. Although we are commemorating this anniversary in 2020, the Injury Free story really began in 1981 when Dr. Barbara Barlow, founder of the Injury Free Coalition for Kids®, established the Injury Prevention Program at Harlem Hospital in New York City, NY. This Program instituted a population-based pediatric injury surveillance system in Harlem to identify the leading mechanisms of injury for children and youth in this area to inform and evaluate injury prevention efforts (Durkin et al., 1994). Based on this initial work, in 1988 the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) provided a 3-year grant to further establish and develop the Harlem Hospital Injury Prevention Program (HHIPP) (Pressley et al., 2005). Initiatives implemented by the HHIPP during this time included window guard campaigns; the Kids, Injuries and Street Smarts (KISS) Program; Burn Prevention Curriculum and Smoke Detector Distribution; Harlem Alternative to Violence Program; Critical Incident Stress Management Teams; youth sports programs; and the Greening of Harlem Program. In addition to these programs, Dr. Barlow and the HHIPP innovatively worked to eliminate unsafe community spaces and replace them with safe spaces for children to play by establishing community coalitions to build playgrounds and improve the community environment (Laraque et al., 1995) ...

Language: en