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We welcome Amy Dale, MPH as a consultant to our Injury Prevention Program team. She recently retired from her position as Division Manager of Health Promotion at the County of Orange Health Care Agency. We’re grateful that her “retirement” was brief. Amy brings a wealth of experience and innovation to our program. Staff:
Additional Newsletter Contributors:
Funded by: 
Violence-related injuries are among the 5 leading causes of death for Orange County Children. Connected Kids: Safe, Strong, Secure is the new research-based AAP program which provides pediatricians the tools to integrate violence prevention efforts and parenting skills into their practices. The focus is helping families raise resilient children. “Giving early preventive messages to parents in the context of child development is one of the fundamental objectives of Connected Kids.” Parents look to their pediatricians for guidance. CA4,AAP is the first AAP chapter in the country to provide Connected Kids training to pediatricians. Our first session was held at the Beckman Center on Saturday, April 29, 2006. Robert Sege, MD, PhD., co-principal investigator and project director, and Karen Miller, MD conducted the implementation workshop. Each pediatric office was provided a kit of materials and parent brochures to support counseling efforts. Evaluation of the training was overwhelmingly positive. Every professional providing service to OC children should be exposed to concepts and methods for integrating parenting skills training into all encounters with children and their families. In keeping with this view CA4, AAP is conducting a second workshop for additional pediatricians, school nurses, school readiness nurses, public safety professionals, educators and others interested in adapting the concepts to their own venues. Save the date: Saturday morning, September 9, 2006 at the Beckman Center in Irvine. Place a reservation with bethinluu@sbcglobal.net, our Connected Kids Coordinator. To view Connected Kids Power Point Presentation, click here To view Save the Date flyer, click below 
Featured SCIPP site- Dr. Harry Pellman Dr. Harry Pellman has been an active member of the Systematic Childhood Injury Prevention Program (SCIPP) since 2002. Dr. Pellman has two practices in the cities of Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley. Both of his pediatric offices distribute SCIPP materials to his patients. He also refers his families to the new parent interactive website created by the California Chapter 4, American Academy of Pediatrics Injury Prevention Program (www.ockeepkidssafe.org). Dr. Pellman states “a picture is worth a thousand words, and our program has many pictures throughout all of our materials. He also commented, “SCIPP is a wonderful, efficient and effective program.”
With the hot summer months approaching fast, the messages of pool and water safety are critical. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued a press release regarding the increase of drowning risk in the summer months as more children are involved in water based activity. According to CPSC, there are approximately 280 drowning deaths of children under 5 years each year in swimming pools in the US. An estimated 2,100 children were treated in hospital emergency rooms for pool submersion injuries in 2005. Most of these were incidents in residential pools. The press release also highlights the increasing danger of the use of inexpensive, portable pools at residences and provides links to free educational resources. To read the entire press release, click here The Injury Prevention Program’s Pool Safety materials are currently available to you at no charge. The 18”x 24” full color posters and 8 ½” x 11” tear off sheets are available in English, Spanish and Vietnamese. To place an order, please call Bethi Luu at (714) 971-0695.
Pediatricians play a critical role in reminding parents that all medicines, including vitamins and supplements, should always be kept in their original child-resistant container. It is critical that the label containing the proper medicine description and dosing information remain with the medicine at all times. Prescription drugs should never be consolidated into one container even if there are only a few remaining in the original container. Despite the progress in reducing the number of fatal poisonings, unintentional medication exposures remain a serious threat to the health of children under 5 years of age. The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report of January 13, 2006 reported the results of a study of unintentional medication exposures among young children during 2001- 2003 nationwide. The report indicates that in 2003, U.S. poison centers reported 568,939 pharmaceutical exposures involving children under the age of 6. During the study period, an estimated 53,517 children aged 4 years or younger were treated annually in emergency departments (ED) for unintentional medication exposures. An estimated 72% of these exposures were in children 1 to 2 years of age. In 2002, 35 children under 5 years of age died from unintentional medication poisoning. Data from this report indicate that, in 2002, approximately 1,500 ED visits and 150 hospital admissions or transfers from EDs occurred for each of the 35 fatalities reported. This study determined that at least 12% of ED visits for medication exposures resulted from children gaining access to medications left in the open, in pill boxes, or in purses. The California Poison Control System (CPCS) is dedicated to providing California residents with 24/7 expert, private and free help and information over the phone in case someone has tasted, touched or breathed something that could be harmful. To help consumers better understand poison control services, the CPCS offers many materials free of charge. Brochures that describe poison control services, and include a removable magnet with the toll-free telephone number. They are available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese. To request health education materials, please visit www.calpoison.org, or call 1-800-582-3387.
Operation Keeping Kids Safe (OKKS) is a unique and innovative program of the Visiting Nurses Association (VNA), that provides comprehensive education on childhood injury prevention and installation of child safety devices to Orange County’s most vulnerable families. Our goal is to decrease the incidence of childhood injury, disability, and death. The target population is families with children age birth to five years old who reside in residential motels or substandard living conditions. Since November 2004 to date, we have reached over 361 families in Orange County. Furthermore, teams of child safety specialists visit families identified through motel outreach and by professionals in the community to provide thorough in-home safety assessments and child safety education. In addition, free safety supplies are installed in the home to reduce childhood injuries and to promote a safe living environment. Families are offered follow-up visits to support and reinforce injury prevention education and to ensure proper usage of the safety equipment. For more information, please contact David Seman at 949-263-4814 or by email at crohner@vnahhs.com.
In recognition of National Dog Bite Prevention Week (May 21-27, 2006), AAP issued tips. Every year, dogs bite more than 4.7 million Americans, with more than half of all victims younger than age 14. Of those children, 150,000 require treatment in the emergency department. Key Messages:
Tips to protect children:
On the first day of summer, June 21, organizations across the country will join PAX / Real Solutions to Gun Violence in celebrating the Sixth-Annual National ASK Day. PAX was founded in 1998 to bring new and effective solutions to the problem of gun violence in America. The non-profit company has since grown into the nation's largest non-political gun violence prevention organization. More importantly, PAX's work provides simple solutions to make homes, families and communities safer. Over 40% of homes with children have guns. During a season when children are spending more time in friends' homes, ASK Day is a reminder to all parents to ask if there are guns in the homes where their children play. ASK stands for Asking Saves Kids. Every day, 8 children die from guns and another 33 are injured, according to Center for Disease Control and Prevention statistics. "These statistics are unacceptable,'' said Daniel Gross, PAX CEO and co-founder. "We hear of far too many senseless tragedies involving children and guns – tragedies that could have been prevented. Parents can help make their children safer. All they have to do is ask.'' PAX is asking those who care about child safety to make sure as many people as possible know about the importance of asking. The campaign involves people in communities nationwide spelling the word ASK in as big and creative a way as possible – from mowing the letters in a baseball field to spelling it out with people in a public place.
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