Citation

Zonfrillo MR, Melzer-Lange MD, Gittelman MA. Pediatr. Emerg. Care 2014; 30(1): 56-62.

Affiliation

From the *Division of Emergency Medicine, Center for Injury Research and Prevention, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA; †Division of Emergency Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI; and ‡Division of Emergency Medicine, Comprehensive Children's Injury Center, Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Cincinnati, OH.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/PEC.0000000000000070

PMID

24378864

Abstract

Injury is the leading cause of pediatric mortality and long-term disability. Although the primary care setting has traditionally been considered as the main venue to address injury anticipatory guidance, an emergency department (ED) visit may serve as a "teachable moment" because most injured children are cared for in this setting and the experience may elicit a greater chance of behavior change. However, EDs can also provide additional information and services beyond counseling to prevent injuries. These adjunct efforts and activities focus on primary injury prevention (screening for and promoting safe behaviors and collecting data to survey high-risk community locations), secondary prevention (use of safety products to mitigate injury), and tertiary prevention (maximizing injury care and minimizing injury sequelae). This review will describe several ways an ED can help to mitigate the epidemic of pediatric injuries through surveillance, screening, education, product disbursement, community engagement, and quality improvement efforts.

Language: en