29th June 2014
Child Accident prevention trust: Child Safety Week Launched, 23rd June 2014
Public Health England launched two new resources at the start of Child Safety Week: Reducing unintentional Injuries in and around the home and reducing unintentional Injuries on the roads among children and young people under 25.
Last week saw the launch of this year’s Child Safety Week and the iHV was invited to speak at the launch. Elaine McInnes iHV Professional Development Officer talked about a new suite of fact sheets including several on reducing accident rates in line with child safety week. There were soon to be available on the iHV website.
At the launch a number of eminent speakers highlighted the shocking statistics gathered over the five years between 2008 and 2012, showing that sixty children under five die every year from preventable accidents. Also that under fives are 45% more likely to have an accident in deprived areas compared with children from the least deprived backgrounds.
The key message was a call to action and the importance of health visitors and other professionals adding the home safety message into every contact – making every contact count. The recommendation is that they should in partnership with the public, private, voluntary and community sectors reinforcing the accident prevention advice. Public Health England (PHE) recommend that health visitors lead and support delivery of universal injury prevention work for infants and children through the Healthy Child Programme. Further identifying that Children’s Centres share this aim and are key partners in reinforcing and delivering the message.
PHE suggests local authorities could prioritise the reduction of five causes of unintentional injuries in the under-fives.
These five areas of commitment include the most severe and preventable injuries causing high death rates and hospital admission: choking, suffocation and strangulation, and falls.
NICE Public Health Guideline PH30 highlights the benefits of integrating home safety into other visits and the strong need to push preventable injuries up the agenda.
Wendy Taman, Health Visitor, Birmingham
