Safety Street: An Interactive Approach to Prevent Injury by a Nationally Recognized Pediatric Hospital

According to Healthy People 2020, injuries are the leading cause of death for Americans age 1 to 44, and a leading cause of disability for all ages. Unintentional injuries are a common reason for ER utilization and are often preventable. A nationally recognized pediatric hospital created a unique injury prevention education program and interactive exhibit to serve children in the community. Children ages 4-8 learn about pedestrian and bicycle safety, stranger and stray animal awareness in a school setting. In fall 2011 program expanded to teach home, motor vehicle, playground/sports and water safety to children ages 9-11. The interactive exhibit places children in life-like scenarios to practice making safe choices. Trained adults teach kindergarten to second graders the proper way to cross the street, explain the meaning of white lights on vehicles, demonstrate proper railway crossing, and stranger and stray animal awareness. Third to sixth graders are asked to identify unsafe behaviors and hazards that could cause injury or death. Randomly selected classrooms were pre-tested prior to the program and post-tested as they exited the exhibit to assess knowledge gained. Pre and post test scores were compared using independent samples t-test using SPSS 19.0. Overall scores improved 10.25% (p<0.001) for kindergarten to second graders during spring 2011. Scores for the 2011-2012 school year are will be available in May. This intervention is an effective method to teach students about home and pedestrian safety and indentify hazards, potentially preventing injury in this population.