Unintentional injuries are a leading cause of death and disability in Kansas City and in the United States.
The Health Department partners with local coalitions and organizations to educate the people of Kansas City that injuries are preventable. The leading causes of childhood injuries are falls, poisonings, pedestrian incidents, motor vehicle crashes, bicycle crashes, unintentional shootings, choking and suffocation, fires and drowning.
Use of prevention devices such as smoke alarms, child passenger restraints, childproofing devices, and bicycle helmets along with safe behavior such as pedestrian skills, safe storage of guns and poisons and child supervision greatly reduces the incidence of injuries.
The Health Department works with the following organizations among others:
The Mother and Child Health Coalition is an organization promoting cooperation among individuals, major health institutions, other community organizations concerned with maternal/child health issues, and metropolitan and state governments.
Safety Street is a partnership between the Health Department and the Kansas City Children's Assistance Network (KC CAN!). It is a program using both a classroom setting and a simulated street scene in an interactive approach to teach children basic safety skills needed to operate in todays city environment. Safety Street is a scale model city street with mock storefronts and vehicles, offering hands-on learning activities about bicycle, automobile, bus and pedestrian safety. Fire, Handwashing/Germ, Gun, and Water Safety and Poisoning Prevention are also avaible as part of the curriculum.
Destination: Safe, formerly the Kansas City Regional Transportation Safety Coalition, is a regional coalition of law enforcement, transportation, and health agencies, safety and injury prevention organizations, emergency medical services, and the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC). The goal of the coalition is to develop and implement a regional transportation safety plan or "blueprint". This is part of MARC's Transportation Outlook 2030 or Long Range Transportation Plan.
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