ICRC Success Stories – Outreach Impact

Collaborating Injury Center Researchers Launch the Cardiff National Network in the United States

The Cardiff Model Confronts Unreported Violence

More than half of violent crimes in the nation are unreported [PDF – 53 pages] according to the United States Department of Justice. The Cardiff Violence Prevention Model provides a way for communities to gain a clearer picture about where violence is occurring by combining and mapping both hospital and police data on violence. The Cardiff National Network brings together key partners to conduct violence prevention such as:

• Community groups
• Hospitals
• Law enforcement agencies
• Public health agencies and others

Hospital emergency rooms and police share anonymous injury information with partners. Pooling the information provides a more complete picture of where and when violence is occurring. The Injury Control Research Center Injury Prevention Research Center at Emory University (IPRCE) is excited to support the start of the Cardiff National Network across the United States in trauma centers and support organizations that report on violent injury and crime.

The Injury Prevention Research Center at Emory University Assesses Potential Cardiff Model Sites

The extent to which the Cardiff Model intervention can be carried out in the United States is unknown. IPRCE aims to assess the Cardiff Model organizational readiness assessments with potential Cardiff Model sites. The organizational readiness assessments occurred at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany, Georgia and Atrium Health Navicent in Macon, Georgia. IPRCE also assessed two law enforcement agencies in Albany and Macon. Organizational readiness assessments examine whether an organization can carry out the Cardiff Model. IPRCE spoke with partners within each city for the assessment. Partners included hospital staff, police, the mayor, the public safety commissioner, and the city manager. Sites expressing interest or participation in the Cardiff Model become part of the Cardiff Model Network. There are internal conversations about carrying out the Cardiff Model using the organizational readiness assessment findings at the next potential network site, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.

The Cardiff National Network Supports Collaborative Violence Prevention Efforts

Researchers at the IPRCE and the Comprehensive Injury Center at the Medical College of Wisconsin brought together a network of 18 cities to support the Cardiff Violence Prevention Model. This network became known as the Cardiff National Network. The network provides each site with individual consultation, technical assistance, sustained support for the Cardiff Model outside of larger network meetings. The Cardiff National Network is available for others to join. The Network also started a newsletter in 2023 to celebrate its first year. The newsletter includes new approaches and best practices for carrying out the Cardiff Model.

To learn more: Emory University

Injury Free Coalition Hosts Inaugural Injury Prevention Day

Injuries are the leading cause of death and hospitalizations for children in the United States aged 1–18 years. Every day, more than 25 children die from preventable injuries, resulting in more deaths than all other causes combined. The Injury Free Coalition for Kids® coordinated the inaugural National Injury Prevention Day on November 18, 2020 to raise awareness of this important public health issue.

The Injury Free Coalition for Kids® brought together child injury prevention advocates, healthcare professionals, public health professionals, elected officials, and families to shed light on the need to address the burden of child injury in the United States. The coalition operates as an outreach arm of the Columbia Center for Injury Science and Prevention at Columbia University, a CDC-funded Injury Control Research Center (ICRC). The coalition used traditional media, social media, educational opportunities, government proclamations, and green lights to highlight this issue.

Green for Safety

Beacons of green light radiated from over 80 city landmarks and children's hospitals across the United States to highlight child injury prevention. The Johns Hopkins dome in Baltimore; the Hemsley Building in New York City; the Prudential Building in Boston; Harborview Medical Center in Seattle; Major League Soccer stadiums in Kansas City, Saint Paul, and Philadelphia; and bridges in Houston, Iowa City, and Little Rock are among the many places that lit up in green to raise awareness.

Green was chosen as an inspiration to raise awareness and advocate for child injury prevention because green represents safety, positivity, peace, and growth.

Participation by the Numbers

Injury Free Coalition for Kids® brought together more than 40 Level I trauma centers across the country, including six ICRCs that are also Level I trauma centers. Together they obtained proclamations from 18 mayors, governors, and senators declaring November 18 as National Injury Prevention Day. Media coverage was obtained in 38 venues across the country and a one-hour Twitter chat was hosted by 20 Injury Free sites using the hashtag #BeInjuryFree.

There were 3,286 engagements of the Twitter chat effort demonstrated by likes or retweets of the posts. The Twitter chat reached almost 4 million projected viewers and users saw posts more than 14 million times containing the hashtag #BeInjuryFree. During the Twitter chat there were 175 posts using the @injuryfree Twitter handle and those posts were engaged 1,902 times demonstrated by liking or replying to those posts. The American Trauma Society, American Academy of Pediatrics, Trauma Centers of America Association, The Society for Advancement of Violence and Injury Research (SAVIR), Everytown's BeSMART, Moms Against Violence, and the CDC Injury Center all took part.

One Injury Free site in Arkansas created a social media toolkit for its executive leadership. The toolkit included background information, talking points, suggested Tweets, and graphics to facilitate participation.

Participation Inspired New Connections

A post-event evaluation demonstrated that relationships between healthcare providers and child advocate professionals were strengthened by the activities. The following data were reported for 20 Injury Free Coalition for Kids® sites:

• Six sites reported getting to know Coalition members better.
• Five sites reported the experience helped them build better relationships with community organizations.
• Ten sites reported stronger relationships within their institutions.
• Three sites met new healthcare providers through the Twitter chat.
• One site strengthened its relationship with elected officials while another strengthened its relationship with law enforcement.
• Several sites said they formed new relationships with area schools.
• One site said the experience strengthened their relationship with the Department of Transportation.

It's encouraging to see healthcare professionals, child injury prevention advocates, public health professionals, elected officials, families, and others come together to raise awareness about childhood injury prevention. Plans are being made for 2021 to build on the successful awareness campaign, broaden the reach, and highlight the significance of injuries to children as well as the importance of injury prevention.

Harborview Injury Prevention & Research Center Creates Collaborative to Build Region's Diverse Lifeguard Pipeline

What is the problem?

In 2021, Washington state had 118 drownings, 15 of whom were children, ages 17 and under. South King County's unintentional drownings continued to rise over the past five years. Twenty-nine people lost their lives to drowning in 2021 in this county alone. Black/African-American people make up about six percent of King County's population but were 15% of King County's drowning deaths between 2017 and 2021.

Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center (HIPRC) in Seattle, Washington used National Injury Prevention Day (NIPD) to focus on drowning prevention. Their efforts supported the development of a racially and ethnically diverse teen lifeguard pipeline in Seattle and South King County.

How did HIPRC and partners achieve this?

HIPRC, SPLASHForward, Seattle Children's Hospital, and Seattle and King County Public Health - Seattle and King County formed a collaborative and met with aquatic programs and managers across South King County. The aquaticprograms and managers discussed priorities related to drowning prevention and water safety. The collaborative agreed there was a need for culturally diverse lifeguards and responsive programming across aquatic facilities, and used this information to develop and host a free, virtual Student Lifeguard Workshop for teens in 2022. The workshop introduced 61 teens to lifeguarding and offered students lessons in skills development if they were unsure of their swimming ability. Student support included working with a member of the collaborative to assess swim skills and appropriate training if needed. Teens also interacted with a diverse panel of student lifeguards and county aquatics center managers who shared personal characteristics and skills required to be a lifeguard.

The HIPRC's website includes a link to SPLASHForward's lifeguard training. Lifeguard classes were promoted throughout South Seattle and South King County until July 2023. The collaborative also provided lifeguard certification and swim skills development for 28 teens. The collaborative continued to recruit interested teens into the program throughout 2023 and hosted a second Student Lifeguard Workshop for National Injury Prevention Day in November.

HIPRC produced and promoted a resource document noting the public beaches and pools that have lifeguards, or available lifejackets, and those that offer swim lessons in the Seattle and King County area. The collaborative's next step is to create a lifeguard pipeline toolkit using their existing model and lessons learned that will be available to other organizations.