Injury Prevention

The Injury Prevention program at Children’s Nebraska is committed to saving lives and reducing injuries. As the leading cause of death and disability among children in the United States, injuries pose a significant risk—but many are preventable. Through our community-based child safety education programs, we equip providers with the tools and knowledge needed to help protect children and promote safer environments.

Car Seat Safety

Understanding car seat safety helps prevent children’s injuries and accidental deaths. Experts say eight out of 10 child car seats aren’t properly installed. Young children who are correctly restrained in age- and size-appropriate child safety seats are more likely to survive an accident. When a child is safely inside a car seat, they have an 80% lower risk of fatal injury in a motor vehicle crash than children who aren’t safely restrained.

Safety on Bikes and Wheels

More children ages 5 to 14 are seen in emergency rooms for injuries related to biking than any other sport. Helmets can reduce the risk of severe brain injuries by 88%, yet only 45% of children 14 and under usually wear a bike helmet.

Children need a helmet when riding a tricycle, bicycle, scooter, skateboard or anything with wheels. Adults should always wear helmets, too, when they ride or roll.

Playground Safety

Playgrounds are great for fun and exercise, but it's important to take steps to help prevent children's injuries. While most playground injuries involve minor cuts and scrapes, others can be more serious. Our goal is to help children play safely.

Water Safety

Drowning is the leading causes of death for children ages 1 to 4. Sadly, most drownings don’t involve loud thrashing or calls for help. They tend to happen quietly and go unnoticed until it’s too late. Education about water safety is key to protecting children from drowning in any type or depth of water.

Gun Safety

Around one in three U.S. households with children have a firearm present. If you’re a gun owner and have a child in your home, gun safety is a top priority. You can start with a few simple steps, listed below.

Recall News and Alerts

To help prevent children’s injuries, stay informed about new or used products in your family’s home. These can range from garage-sale finds and shiny new toys to cribs, furniture and fresh or packaged foods. Inspect products carefully and check for the latest recalls and alerts about defective or dangerous products.

To help keep your family stay safe, Children’s has assembled a list of organizations that will help keep you up to date. They issue safety alerts and notify the public about important recalls and safety alerts.

Abusive Head Trauma

Abusive Head Trauma (AHT) or shaken baby syndrome (SBS) describe the signs and symptoms that are the likely result of violently shaking and/or impacting of the head of an infant or small child. The following resources can help you learn more and educate others about these serious risks.

Safe Sleep

Unsafe sleep practices for infants have been proven to increase the risk of sudden unexplained infant death (SUID). Understanding these risks and taking certain steps can help parents and caregivers keep babies healthy and safe.

Partnerships

Safe Kids Douglas County is led by the Injury Prevention team at Children's Nebraska. We provide dedicated and caring teams, operation support and other resources to assist in achieving our common goal: keeping kids safe.

Learn more about Safe Kids Douglas County

• Hospital Champion of the Nebraska Safe Sleep Hospital Campaign

• Hospital Champion of the Nebraska Abusive Head Trauma Prevention Hospital Campaign