Office of Injury Prevention

What is Injury?

Injury is defined as “Damage or harm caused to the structure or function of the body caused by an outside agent or force.”

The major categories of injury are unintentional (accidental) and intentional. Unintentional injuries include those that result from motor vehicle collisions, falls, fires, poisonings, drowning, suffocation, choking, animal bites, recreational and sports-related activities. Intentional injuries result from interpersonal or self-inflicted violence, and include homicide, assaults, suicide and suicide attempts, child abuse and neglect (includes child sexual abuse), intimate partner violence, elder abuse, and sexual assault.

Common injuries include: poisonings, fractures, open wounds, sprains and strains, etc. The agents or forces causing these injuries are referred to as the external cause of injury and include, but are not limited to: motor vehicle crashes, falls, fires, firearms, poisonings, drownings, suffocation, animal bites, and recreational and sports-related activities.

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Florida’s Need for Injury Prevention

Injuries are the leading killer of Floridians ages 1–44 and the 3rd leading killer overall after heart disease and cancer (Florida Vital Statistics). In 2009, injuries claimed 13,000 lives and accounted for 7.65% of all resident deaths.

In 2007 (most current national injury data), Florida’s age-adjusted injury death rates were higher than the national average by 15% for all unintentional injuries, 28% for unintentional motor vehicle injuries, 40% for unintentional poisonings, 20% for suicides, and a staggering 154% for unintentional drownings among children ages 1–4. In addition, Florida’s age-adjusted death rates in each of the above categories were the highest among the nation's five most populous states: CA, TX, NY, FL, and IL (see table below).

• A 2011 report conducted by Transportation for America and the American Association of Retired Persons, Dangerous By Design, found that the top four of the ten most dangerous cities in the nation for pedestrians were in Florida.
• Florida’s death rate from unintentional poisonings jumped 188% from 1999 to 2007 (CDC WISQARS).
• Florida consistently has one of the highest age-adjusted unintentional drowning death rates in the nation and the highest age-specific drowning rate among children ages 1–4 (CDC WISQARS).
• Florida’s rural counties have some of the highest age-adjusted unintentional injury, suicide, and homicide death rates among the state’s 67 counties, 33 of which are classified as rural (FL CHARTS).
• Fatal injuries account for only a small portion of injuries in Florida, the tip of the iceberg. For every injury death in Florida, there are about 10 hospitalizations and 120 emergency department visits for non-fatal injuries.
• “According to the CDC, injuries cost an estimated $406 billion per year in medical expenses and lost productivity. Nearly 50 million injuries occur each year, placing a staggering burden on the U.S. health care system. State budgets share this burden through Medicaid, state employee health benefits, health care for the uninsured, child welfare services, and lost tax revenue for the injured and their caregivers.” (excerpt from the National Conference of State Legislature’s LEGISBRIEF, Vol. 17, No. 3)

Clearly, there is a need for statewide injury prevention activities in Florida.

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What has Florida Done to Address Injury?

In 2004, the Florida Legislature recognized the need to create and maintain a comprehensive statewide injury prevention program to support state and community health systems. Section 401.243, Florida Statutes, was created and states the Department of Health shall establish an injury prevention program with responsibility for the statewide coordination and expansion of injury prevention activities. Section 381.0011, Florida Statutes, was amended to include maintenance of the statewide injury prevention program.

The Office of Injury Prevention, with Florida's injury prevention community, created the 2004–2008 Florida Injury Prevention Strategic Plan, a statewide injury prevention plan, to serve as a road map in carrying out its duties and responsibilities. In addition, a statewide Injury Prevention Advisory Council was established to serve in an advisory capacity to the Office of Injury Prevention and the Department of Health. For more information please see the Florida Injury Prevention Advisory Council web page.

In 2005, the Office of Injury Prevention was awarded a five year Public Health Injury Surveillance and Prevention Program grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The 2004–2008 Florida Injury Prevention Strategic Plan, the first state plan since the 1990’s, was concluded in late 2008 with 74% of the plan implemented. This state injury prevention plan was referred to as a model plan by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other injury prevention organizations.

The Office of Injury Prevention is the first state injury program to complete the implementation of a five-year strategic plan and to immediately create a successor plan, the 2009–2013 Florida Injury Prevention Strategic Plan. Florida’s injury prevention program is known nationally as a progressive leader.

“In only five years, Florida has moved from being known within the national injury prevention community as an unfunded state to a progressive leader.”

— Dr. Ileana Arias, Director, National Center for Injury
Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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Florida Injury Prevention Collaboration

Injury prevention is complex, due to the many ways that people are injured. The Office of Injury Prevention leads, facilitates, and coordinates injury prevention planning efforts with injury prevention stakeholders and other state agencies. Resources are limited and it is imperative that state agencies and the injury prevention community collaborate to maximize their injury prevention messages and reach more population with injury prevention initiatives. The Office of Injury Prevention identified key state agencies for injury prevention. Collaborating with these key state agencies does not result in overlapping injury prevention activities or initiatives. The key state agencies are:

• Agency for Health Care Administration. The Florida Center for Health Information and Policy Analysis provides statewide hospital discharge data and emergency room discharge data for the Florida Injury Surveillance System. The Agency for Health Care Administration has a representative on the Florida Injury Prevention Advisory Council.
• Florida Department of Children and Families. The Florida Department of Children and Families works to: protect the vulnerable, promote strong and economically self-sufficient families, and to advance personal and family recovery and resiliency. A representative for the Florida Department of Children and Families serves on the Florida Injury Prevention Advisory Council.
• Florida Department of Education. Children are identified as having a high risk for injury. This office collaborates on children’s injury prevention issues and the Florida Department of Education has a representative on the Florida Injury Prevention Advisory Council.
• Florida Department of Elder Affairs. The Communities for a Lifetime Initiative, within the Elder Rights Bureau, is an important partner of the Office of Injury Prevention. The Initiative collaborates with the Office of Injury Prevention on projects to reduce and eliminate falls among Florida's senior citizens. The State Surgeon General and the Secretary of the Department of Elder Affairs collaborate on ways for the state agencies to continue partnering in the future. The Florida Department of Elder Affairs has a representative on the Florida Injury Prevention Advisory Council.
• Florida Department of Highway Safety Motor Vehicles. The Office of Injury Prevention partners with this agency on children’s safety while riding in vehicles and graduated driver programs. The Florida Department of Highway Safety Motor Vehicles has a representative on the Florida Injury Prevention Advisory Council.
• Florida Department of Transportation. The State Safety Office is an important partner of the Office of Injury Prevention and has a representative on the Florida Injury Prevention Advisory Council. This office, through Federal Highway Safety 402 Grant, provides funding for the Florida Bicycle Helmet Promotion Program and the Florida Special Needs Occupant Protection Program contained within the Office of Injury Prevention.

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Florida Injury Prevention Programs

The Office of Injury Prevention is responsible for these programs:

• Florida Bicycle Helmet Promotion Program — This program increases availability of bicycle helmets and use among children in low-income households, rural counties, and in counties that experience a high incidence of bicycle-related injuries and death.
• Florida Special Needs Occupant Protection Program — This program, operated in children’s hospitals within Florida increases access to special needs child safety seats/restraints for children with special health care needs.
• Public Information, Education and Relations (PIER) for EMS Program — This program helps Emergency Medical System personnel understand their role in identifying, implementing and evaluating injury prevention strategies within their communities.
• Safe Kids Florida — Local coalitions and state chapters provide leadership in their communities in an effort to reduce the number of childhood injuries, a leading killer of children ages 14 and under.

Other agencies and organizations that the Office of Injury Prevention works in partnership with include:

• The Ounce of Prevention Fund of Florida partnered with the Department of Health to produce public service announcements and brochures for drowning, falls, burns and poisoning. Downloadable brochures in English, Spanish and Creole are available on the Ounce of Prevention website under each mechanism of injury.
• Statewide Office of Suicide Prevention — On May 22, 2007, Florida Governor Charlie Crist signed into law CS/HB 139 that created the Statewide Office of Suicide Prevention. The law provided $150,000 for one year, to coordinate suicide prevention efforts statewide. The bill also created the Suicide Prevention Coordinating Council. The council replaces the previous task force that was created in 2002, at the direction of then Governor Jeb Bush. The Statewide Office of Suicide Prevention and the Coordinating Council work together to implement the Florida Suicide Prevention Strategy. The Office of Injury Prevention represents the Department of Health on this council.

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National & Regional Injury Prevention Organizations

The Injury Prevention office manager serves as Florida’s representative in the Safe States Alliance (formerly the State and Territorial Injury Prevention Directors Association [STIPDA]), and the Southeastern Regional Injury Control Network (SERICN). The Safe States Alliance is the only national nonprofit organization containing public health injury professionals representing all states and territories. For more information regarding the Safe States Alliance, please contact the Safe States Alliance.

SERICN’s membership includes representation from Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida and is dedicated to creating a coordinated approach to unintentional and intentional injury control in the southeastern United States. For more information contact SERICN.

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