The Injury Control and Emergency Health Services (ICEHS) Section invites abstracts related to injury and violence in all settings (e.g., car crashes, falls, family violence, gun violence, community violence, suicide); alcohol/drug-related harms, overdose, and other poisonings; delivery of emergency health services; and issues related to emergency preparedness, disaster response and recovery, and population safety. Submissions on these and related topics addressing methodological innovations, technology advances, programs and program evaluation, translational research, and policy and law are appropriate for this section. We welcome abstracts on ALL unintentional and intentional injury mechanisms, emergency health services and disaster. Of particular interest are abstracts that address prevention, policy, epidemiology/etiology, statistical methods, or other approaches.

Abstracts submitted by the deadline will be peer-reviewed and considered for presentation at the 2026 Annual Meeting of the American Public Health Association (APHA) ICEHS Program (Nov 1 - 4, 2026) in San Antonio, TX.  APHA guidelines require that the work be original, unpublished and not previously presented at a professional meeting prior to October 31, 2026. Please note that abstracts must contain data and results – abstracts containing results such as “the authors will discuss” will not be considered for oral presentation. Abstracts must be structured as follows: Background/Purpose, Methods, Results/Outcomes, and Conclusions. The abstract word limit is 500 words.

Specific areas of interest include, but are not limited, to:

• Disaster Response and Emergency Preparedness
  
• Donna' Session
  
• Emergency Medical Services
  
• Firearm Violence
  
• Injury and Emergency Health Services Data
  
• Motor Vehicle Crashes and Traffic Safety
  
• Opioids and Other Drugs
  
• Pandemic Preparedness and Response
  
• Recreational and Sports Injuries
  
• Suicide Prevention
  
• Violence Prevention and Control
  
• Other Topics Related to Injury Control and Emergency Health Services
  

Full Sessions:

We welcome proposals for full sessions (90 minutes in length). Session proposals are encouraged for any topics listed above or related to this year's theme. APHA is pilot testing a session submission process different from previous years. If you are interested in submitting a session please click START SESSION SUBMISSION. The new process will allow for a more streamlined review and grading of the session as a whole. If you run into issues with the session submission process please email Larry Cook at larry.cook@hsc.utah.edu. Please note sessions usually have four or five presenters and all presenters are required to submit a structured abstract through the regular system by the deadline. For a tutorial on how to submit a session please follow this link https://apha.confex.com/apha/f/2026SubmitASessionProposal.

Continuing Education Credit:

APHA values the ability to provide continuing education credit to physicians, nurses, health educators, and those certified in public health at its annual meeting. Please complete all required information when submitting an abstract so members can claim credit for attending your session. These credits are necessary for members to keep their licenses and credentials.

For a session to be eligible for Continuing Education Credit, each presenter must provide:

1. An abstract free of trade and/or commercial product names.
2. At least one MEASURABLE objective (DO NOT USE “understand” or “to learn” as objectives; they are not measurable). Examples of acceptable measurable action words: Explain, Demonstrate, Analyze, Formulate, Discuss, Compare, Differentiate, Describe, Name, Assess, Evaluate, Identify, Design, Define or List. Abstracts missing learning objectives will receive a lower priority accept score and risk being rejected.
3. A completed electronic Conflict of Interest (Disclosure) form with a relevant qualifications statement. The qualification statement should include the research or programmatic experience of the presenter as it relates to this abstract as well as the educational training of the presenter. Please note that stating “I am a Principal Investigator/Project Coordinator of this project” is not sufficient since it only gives the submitter's job title or position. Please add sufficient and appropriate information about your experience, expertise and background, as they relate to the abstract content.

Submission Deadline: All abstracts and session proposals for the ICEHS Program are due by March 31, 2026.

Withdrawal:

The last date to withdraw an abstract accepted for presentation, without penalty, is August 1. This date allows the program committee time to provide the presentation opportunity to other submitting authors whose work may not otherwise have a program slot. Penalty: All authors/coauthors whose abstracts are accepted for oral or poster presentation who fail to arrange for the submitted work to be presented, fail to show for the meeting, or fail to withdraw by the withdrawal date of August 1, will be ineligible to have abstracts considered for presentation for the following two years. Exceptions will be considered if the program committee is promptly notified of any extreme, unforeseen circumstances.

---

Ready?

Program Planner Contact Information:

Larry Cook, PhD
larry.cook@hsc.utah.edu


and

Kathleen Carlson,
kathleen.carslon@va.gov


and

Renee Johsnon,
rjohnson@jhu.edu


and

JC Guzman,
jancarlos.guzman@health.ny.gov