Injury Prevention and Safety

Topic Summary

Although public health practice often focuses on preventing, treating and curing chronic illness and disease, the scope of public health practice also includes injury prevention. Injuries are a leading cause of death for Americans across all demographics. Equally significant are the short and long-term disabilities suffered by those who survive a traumatic injury. Public health departments play a crucial role in injury prevention efforts. These efforts include preventing accidental as well as intentional injuries.

The scope of injuries addressed by public health practitioners is broad and includes:

• Falls among the elderly, children and those with limited mobility
• Unintentional poisoning by household chemicals or medications
• Fire and fireworks-related injuries
• Drowning or other water-related injuries in the home or during recreation
• Motor vehicle injuries caused by distracted driving, drunk or other impaired driving
• Intentional violence against children or the elderly, at home, work or school
• Sexual assaults and suicides

View a comprehensive list of injury topics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site.

Primary Legal Issues

Injury prevention researchers attempt to identify environmental and behavioral risk factors and patterns that contribute to injury. Public health lawyers use the results of this research to use or change laws to ensure that they effectively prevent or reduce the causes of injury. For example, research that revealed that children under 80 pounds were much less likely to suffer serious injury in a motor vehicle accident if restrained in a car seat led to successful efforts to secure laws mandating the use of child safety seats in states across the country. Likewise, research has shown face-to-face patient counseling to be an effective method of reducing accidental medication poisonings, leading public health professionals to work with pharmacists to develop protocols for such counseling. In turn, public health lawyers routinely work with public health researchers, policy-makers, legislators and others to develop and secure effective laws and policies designed to discourage risky behavior and increase safety in the home, at work and in the community.

Technical Assistance Capacity

The Network is uniquely situated to provide technical assistance based on sound research to help those committed to public health develop, implement and enforce effective injury prevention policies and programs.

For legal technical assistance and support on injury prevention and safety or any of the public health topics, please contact your region. Your region will connect you with the appropriate expert based on your request.

Resources

• The policy guide produced by the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy, Preventing Injuries in Maryland: A Resource for State Policy Makers, inlcudes impact and policy summaries for topics such as distracted driving, home fires and intimate partner violence.
• The blog post, Outliving Our Driving Years, and the fact sheet developed by the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy, Older Drivers, summarizes the legal options available to reduce risks associated with senior driving.
• The issue brief, Residential Sprinkler Systems, covers policy and litigation strategies for reducing residential fire injuries.
• The webinar, Distracted Driving Laws: Where are we? Where should we be going?, discusses the scope and implications of distracted driving, the evolution of state laws and the apparent divergence between existing evidence and laws.
• The webinar, Concussions and Youth Sports: Can the Law Help Prevent Injury?, and the table, State Laws Addressing Concussions in Youth Sports, presents an overview of concussion physiology in young athletes, various legislative approaches and other legal innovations surrounding the issue.
• The fact sheet, Missouri Car Safety Restraint Laws, provides information on Missouri’s child safety restraint laws and seat belt laws, including the applicability of the law, exceptions, penalties for violating and links to additional resources.
• The Summary Matrix of the State of Children’s Dental Health in the U.S. illustrates whether each state meets the benchmarks set forth in the Pew Children’s Dental Campaign’s latest report, The State of Children’s Dental Health: Making Coverage Matter.