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• Brown A. Partnering with pediatricians and parents for child safety. Pediatric Basics 2000; 90:2-9. (E.47.02 S)
  
  Abstract: This article discusses how the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and pediatricians can work together to prevent unintentional injuries among children. Specific areas for combined efforts include: safe child care settings; safe sleep environments; baby walkers; phthalates in children's products; and playground safety. For each of these areas, the author discusses ways the CPSC and pediatricians can work to educate parents on keeping their children safe.



• Bangdiwala S, Viadro C. A review of national policies and programs to prevent unintentional injuries in the Americas. Injury Control and Safety Promotion 2000; 7(1):15-27. (E.45.02 S)
  
  Abstract: This study describes a survey of injury policies and programs in 23 countries in the Americas. Most countries (87%) perceived unintentional injuries to be a significant public health problem. When asked about actual policy agendas, however, only 26% of the countries ranked unintentional injuries among policy makers' top five concerns. Approximately half the countries surveyed reported having a national injury prevention strategy, injury prevention coordinator, or consultative group. Virtually all countries with national strategies and consultative groups had established them in the 1990s, suggesting that concern about injuries is both recent and growing. Three-fourths (74%) reported that their country had a surveillance system to monitor injury related mortality and morbidity. The study's results suggest that most policies and programs for the prevention and control of unintentional injuries have been developed in the past 10 years, and primarily address motor vehicle injuries. It is essential that current efforts be both broadened and strengthened so that the societal burden of unintentional injuries in the Americas can be reduced.



• Hall MJ, Owings MF. Hospitalizations for injury: United States, 1996. Advance Data. 318; Aug 9, 2000. (Periodicals file)

Transportation:

• Wagenaar AC, Webster DW. Preventing injuries to children through compulsory automobile safety seat use. Pediatrics 1986; 78(4):662-672. (52.02 S)
  
  Abstract: Effects of Michigan's law requiring all young children to be restrained when traveling in automobiles were assessed. Reported restraint use among injured children younger than 4 years of age involved in crashes increased from 12% before to 51% after the law was implemented. A 25% decrease in the number of children injured in crashes was associated with the law.



• Solomon MG, Weinstein HB, Nissen WJ, Preusser DF. National Child Safety Seat Distribution Program Evaluation. 1999. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. (E.52.02.06 S)
  
  Abstract: The National Child Safety Seat Distribution Program (NCSS) was a multi-year, multi-phase program intended to distribute $8 million in child safety seats to low income and special needs children in all 50 states. Non-profit organizations that received funds to buy safety seats agreed to distribute them to recipients that otherwise could not obtain a seat and agreed to train all recipients in the correct use and installation of the seat. Prgram evaluation data were collected through topical interviews with national and local program coordinators and from individual case studies. Most often, NCSS was carried out by medical related facilites, followed by day care/early education centers and government offices. Nearly all the facilities had a system to assess a recipient's need for a seat, and most trained all or most of their seat recipients. Indicated problems included obtaining training for distribution center staff and storing seats until they could be distributed. The NCSS program worked in a variety of environments and accomplished most of its objectives, most of the time.



• Sachs MK, Tombrello SM. Car seat safety: Buckling up isn't always enough. Pediatric Basics 2000; 90:10-24. (E.52.02.06 S)
  
  Abstract: This article covers the types of safety seats and accessories currently available on the market, guidelines for their proper use, and typical patterns of misuse. Possible solutions to difficult dilemmas (such as the squirming toddler and peer pressure) also are suggested.



• Pucher J, Dijkstra L. Making walking and cycling safer: Lessons from Europe. Transportation Quarterly 2000; 54(3):25-50. (E.51 S)
  
  Abstract: The neglect of pedestrian and bicycling safety in the United States has made these modes dangerous ways of getting around. Pedestrian fatalities are 36 times higher than car occupant fatalities per kilometer traveled, and bicycling fatalities are 11 times higher. Walking and bicycling can be made quite safe, however, as clearly shown by the much lower fatality rates in The Netherlands and Germany. Pedestrian fatalities per billion km walked are less than a tenth as high as in the US, and bicyclist fatalities per billion km cycled are only a fourth as high. The Netherlands and Germany have long recognized the importance of pedestrian and bicyclist safety. Over the past two decades, these countries have undertaken a wide range of measures to improve safety: better facilities for walking and bicycling; urban design sensitive to the needs of nonmotorists; traffic calming of residential neighborhoods; restrictions on motor vehicle use in cities; rigorous traffic education of both motorists and nonmotorists; and strict enforcement of traffic regulations protecting pedestrians and bicyclists. The US could adopt many of the same measures to improve pedestrian and bicycling safety here. The necessary technology and methods are already available, with decades of successful experience in Europe.



• Kopjar B, Wickizer TM. Age gradient in the cost-effectiveness of bicycle helmets. Preventive Medicine 2000; 30:401-406. (E.51.02.02 S)
  
  Abstract: This study analyzed the reduction in risk of head injuries associated with use of bicycle helmets among persons ages 3-70 during 1990-1996 and the cost-effectiveness of helmet use based on this estimated risk reduction. The authors combined injury incidence data gathered through a detailed and comprehensive injury registration system in Norway with information reported in the scientific literature regarding the health protective effects of helmet use. The risk of head injury was highest among children aged 5-16. The greatest reduction in absolute risk of head injury occurred among children who started using a helmet between the ages of 3-13. Estimates indicate that it would cost approximately $2200 (US) in bicycle helmet expenses to prevent any one upper head injury in children ages 3-13. In contrast, it would cost $10,000-25,000 (US) to avoid a single injury among adults. Bicycle helmets appear to be several times more cost-effective for children than for adults, primarily because of the higher risk of head injury among children. Programs aiming to increase helmet use should consider the differences in injury risk and cost-effectiveness among different age groups and target their efforts accordingly.



• Powell J, Wilkins D, Leiper J, Gillam C. Stay on Your Feet Safety Walks Group. Accident Analysis and Prevention 2000; 32:389-390. (E.51.04 S)
  
  Abstract: The Safety Walks Group is an initiative that evolved from the Stay on Your Feet Program. The strategies used in this program target both behavioral and environmental change and are based on the five areas for action under the Ottawa Charter (WHO, 1986) and Jakarta Declaration (WHO, 1997). The Safety Walks Group addresses the issue of public hazards via the use of a standard checklist covering pedestrian areas, business houses, and accomodation. The project provided a forum for seniors to be proactive, working with the authorities to address the issue of public hazards and make the environment safer.

Violence/Weapons/Abuse:

• Wallack L. The California Violence Prevention Initiative: Advancing policy to ban Saturday Night Specials. Health Education and Behavior 1999; 26(6):841-857. (E.96 S)
  
  Abstract: The California Violence Prevention Initiative (VPI) was conceived in 1993 as a 5 year, $35 million comprehensive community, media, research, and policy advocacy effort to reduce violence among youth. The VPI included an emphasis on three broad policy areas: shifting society's definition of violence to include a public health perspective, reducing access to alcohol and other drugs, and limiting availability of handguns. For the first 3 years of the VPI, the policy focus was on reducing the availability of handguns to youth through efforts to ban the manufacture and sale of Saturday Night Specials (SNSs). Prior to the VPI, there were no local SNS bans. Now, there are bans in 41 California jurisdictions, including major population centers. After two vetoes of a statewide legislative ban by the former governor, an SNS ban was signed by a newly elected governor.



• Sorenson S. Regulating firearms as a consumer product. Science 1999; 286:1481-1482. (E.96.04 S)
  
  Abstract: There is no "magic bullet" for reducing firearm related injuries and deaths. However, a design approach to firearms, analogous to those applied to motor vehicles, medication packaging, and other consumer products, has been proposed by researchers in public health. Some of the design options for making firearms safer include minumum grip strength requirements and personalized firearms that rely on use of a fingerprint, transponder, or other mechanism to identify a specific individual. A key question is whether governmental safety standards for firearms would find broad support among the general population. Data were collected from 1204 adults living in all 50 states via telephone interview. Although 62.6% believed that "government does too many things already" and only 44.2% believed that "government programs usually are effective," 74.9% favored government safety regulations for the design of guns. The implications of these findings for public policy and legislation are discussed.



• Forjuoh SN. Child maltreatment related injuries: Incidence, hospital charges, and correlates of hospitalization. Child Abuse and Neglect 2000; 24(8):1019-1025. (E.80.02 S)
  
  Abstract: This study determined the incidence, hospital charges, and correlates associated with inpatient treatment of child maltreatment related injuries. The data were based on the 1995 Pennsylvania Hospital Discharge Data which included all Pennsylvania acute care hospitals that reported child maltreatment discharges. A total of 348 maltreated injured children ages 0-19 years were discharged in 1995, representing an incidence rate of 10.8 per 100,000 persons. The total hospital charges for child maltreatment related injury discharges amounted to over $5.4 million, of which Medicaid alone paid for 45%. Compared to a random sample of non-maltreated injured children, maltreated injured children were more likely to be younger, more likely to be female, and more likely to be Black. Child maltreatment related injury hospitalizations were more likely to be urgent and via physician referral or transfer from other health care facility. Maltreated injured children were 3 times as likely to die as other children. These findings indicate that injury from child maltreatment is a major cause of hospitalization of young children 5 years and younger and represents a significant cost to publicly financed health care.



• Singer MI, Flannery DJ. The relationship between children's threats of violence and violent behaviors. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine 2000; 154:785-790. (E.80 S)
  
  Abstract: This study examines the relationship between students' threats of interpersonal violence and self-reported violent behaviors. Anonymous self-report questionnaires were administered to students in grades 3-12 in schools in Colorado, Arizona, and Utah. Results showed that threatening others infrequently or frequently (compared with not threatening others) was significantly associated with violent behaviors. Students who infrequently threatened were about 3-4 times more likely to report exhibiting each of the violent behaviors than students who did not threaten others. The relationship between frequently threatening others and violent behavior was especially strong and highest for the most severe forms of violence, knife attacks and shootings. Students' threats of harm toward others should be taken seriously, and policies and procedures should be developed to ensure that children who threaten others receive proper assessment and management.



• Finkelhor D, Ormrod R. Kidnapping of juveniles: Patterns from NIBRS. OJJDP Juvenile Justice Bulletin. (E.10.04.02 B)
  
  Abstract: This Bulletin describes the offense of kidnapping of juveniles, using 1997 NIBRS data. Among other significant findings, the analysis reveals that such abductions are relatively uncommon, that there are three distinct kinds of perpetrators, and that the rate of juvenile kidnapping peaks in the afternoon

Newsletters/Catalogs:

• Building Safe Communities. V.3(5); Aug 2000. Newton, MA: Education Development Center, Inc. Cover story: Time to go back to school. (Newsletter file)



• Frontlines. V.3(3); Jul 2000. Pittsburgh, PA: Center for Injury Research & Control, University of Pittsburgh. (Newsletter file)



• NCJRS Catalog. May/Jun 2000. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, National Criminal Justice Reference Service. (E.16.02 S)

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