Children's Health Education and Safety Center

Injuries are the number one threat to a child's health. More children die each year from injuries due to motor vehicle mishap, choking, burns, falls, drowning and poisoning than all contagious diseases added together! Four times as many injury deaths occur in children than in the general population; however, injury related deaths are only the "tip of the iceberg."

For each childhood death due to an injury, 45 injured children are hospitalized and 1,300 injured children require emergency department treatment. It is, therefore, not an exaggeration when we refer to this problem as the "modern day plague on our nation's youth."

As enormous as our injury problem is in this country, hope and optimism rest in the fact that injuries in children are preventable. Childhood injuries are not random, freakish, chance occurrences. They can be anticipated and prevented.

Children’s of Alabama is a trusted partner in the fight to keep children safe from injury. Through programs and strategies ranging from car seat installations, school workshops, bike helmet fittings and teen safe driving campaigns, Children’s of Alabama is committed to raising safety awareness and education for all ages. Learn more by contacting Marie Crew, Director of Health Information and Safety, at Marie.Crew@ChildrensAL.org.