Safety NOT Guaranteed
Safe Kids Coordinator Erika Janes Offers Tips to Avoid Injury
DESPITE DECADES OF HEALTH AND WELLNESS EDUCATION,
CHILDHOOD INJURIES AND FATALITIES REMAIN A STARTLING
PROBLEM FOR OUR COMMONWEALTH. The most recent data,
aggregated by the Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center
for the year 2012, indicated there were more than 42,000 emergency department visits, 485 hospital discharges and 68 deaths
involving children age 5 and younger in Kentucky in a 12-month
period.
knew the risks children were taking. For example, 69 percent of
injury deaths for children ages 1-5 are caused by drowning, fires
and other unintentional causes.
Erika Janes, RN, has 35 years of experience educating parents on
preventing injuries due to her work with the Children’s Hospital
Foundation, Office of Child Advocacy of Kosair Children’s Hospital. As coordinator for Safe Kids Louisville, family education and
community development have been an integral part of her efforts.
Motor vehicle crashes have the next highest rate of fatalities for
children over 1. The guidelines for car safety may be confusing,
but there are general recommendations. Children under 13 should
always be in the back seat; children under 2 need to ride rear-facing; children who are older than 2 or under 40 pounds need to be
forward facing in a five-point harness; and children up to 8 and
under 57 inches tall need to be in booster seats. It is best to keep
children in a harness as long as possible. Check your child’s seat
for more information. Everyone in the vehicle needs to be in a
proper seat and using a seat belt.
When Kosair Children’s Hospital asked her to be a leader of Safe
Kids Louisville, Janes knew it was an important step. “I had a small
child at that point. I was growing and learning. Discovering more
about the dangers children and new parents face validated my
concerns and gave me a mission.”
Janes’ mission has been buoyed by a collaboration with numerous
agencies and concerned citizens. Each month, Safe Kids Louisville
brings together safety professionals from across Jefferson County,
coordinating the fire and police departments, the Department of
Public Health and Wellness, the school system and many others.
The coalition holds events to reduce injury such as car seat checks,
bike rodeos and safety programs.
“Accidents are the leading cause of death to children 14 and under,”
Janes said. “They happen year round, but we see these most often
in the summer months when kids may have less supervision or
different supervision than they do while in school. Just keeping a
close eye on young ones can make a big difference.”
“We get parents who are surprised by these facts all the time.
Sometimes it’s due simply to their limited exposure to the newest
information. Listen to the news. You constantly hear stories about
people getting thrown from a vehicle and not surviving,” Janes
said. “What doesn’t make the news is the thousands of people
who walk away from wrecks because they were restrained. So
wear your seat belt.”
The Safe Kids Louisville coalition’s passion is due in large part to the
fact that these injuries are 90 percent preventable, if only everyone
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VITAL SIGNS Volume 10 • Issue 2