HIPRC helped hold an event promoting safe storage of guns. People waited in line up to 4 hours to receive one of the 300+ lock boxes/trigger locks that were handed out at the event. A big thank you to all who participated in the safe gun storage event on Saturday, December 13th. We had representatives from HIPRC, Seattle Children’s Hospital (SCH), Safe Kids Seattle, Harborview Medical Center (HMC), and Public Health – Seattle & King County (PHSKC), as well as other community members.
HIPRC volunteers included:
There is a new blog post on safe storage and suicide prevention that NACCHO (National Association of City and County Health Officials) has published. It includes references to the pertinent NACCHO policy statements by the Injury & Violence Prevention Work Group in NACCHO, as well as other useful resources. It also includes input from some of the top suicide prevention experts in the country.
Link: http://nacchovoice.naccho.org/2014/12/15/safe-storage-of-firearms-prevents-suicide/
The HIPRC auction basket, put together by Sarah Brolliar (MPH Health Services student), had a bike safety theme and included a bike helmet, bell, reflective vest, front and rear lights, and rear view mirror. It raised $100 towards providing necessities and comforts to hospital patients and their families such as holiday meals, stuffed animals, and blankets. Overall, the auction raised $12,975, which broke last year’s record!
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently issued its first-ever global report focused exclusively on drowning. Drowning is one of the top 10 leading causes of death for children and young people in every region of the world. WHO points out the need for better data, but also that drowning is highly preventable and solutions are relatively simple and inexpensive.
Original article: http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/global_report_drowning/en/
The Indian Institute of Public Health, in collaboration with HIPRC, held a 1-day workshop in September on the availability of technology for trauma and emergency care in India and South Asia. The workshop was attended by trauma care clinicians, hospital administrators, government planners, public health experts, biomedical engineers and designers, representatives of industry, and others, from throughout India and internationally. The collaborators have now released a report on the workshop summaries and recommendations. The goals of the workshop were to identify success stories that can be built on and form best practices, to identify problem areas, and to identify potential solutions. Some of the priorities discussed include access to technology, training, mismatching resources, and biomedical engineering.
Full Report (.PDF)