Every year, nearly 500 children are admitted to C.S. Mott Children's Hospital as a result of a serious injury. Another 6,500 are treated for an injury in our Pediatric Emergency Department. Injuries from trauma—ranging from schoolyard falls to high-speed automobile collisions—are the leading cause of death and disability in children. The University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, a Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center, cares for the most seriously injured children. To reduce the incidence of childhood injuries, an array of injury prevention outreach programs have been designed to educate children, parents and community members. Our work involves:
- Educating children and adults
- Advocating for effective laws
- Providing reduced cost safety products to low-income families
- Conducting research
- Creating safe environments
These efforts continually evolve to meet the changing trends of traumatic injuries and the needs of our community's children. Every year, the Injury Prevention Program looks for trends in the types of pediatric traumas we see to determine which areas would benefit from new programming or increased priority.
Mott injury prevention programs:
- Mott Buckle Up! - reduced-cost car seats to low-income families, car seat consultations for our patients and families, car seat inspections and local child passenger safety coordination
- Safe Kids Huron Valley - preventing unintentional injuries to children through local coalition coordination
- Protect UR Brain - Wear a Helmet on the slopes: working with ski resorts across the state to increase helmet use through policy change.
- Protect UR Brain - Wear a Helmet on wheels: efforts to reduce brain injuries while riding a bike, skateboard, rollerblades, and scooters.
- Kohl's Drive Smart - distracted driving prevention for teen drivers and their parents.