Find us on:
IFCK - KC is housed within The Center for Childhood Safety (CCS), a hospital-based injury and violence prevention program at The Children's Mercy Hospital. Our mission is to lead innovative programming in pediatric injury and violence prevention, utilizing evidence-based translational research aimed at influencing behavior through education and advocacy. Alongside community partners, our vision is to improve the lives of children by alleviating the health burdens of intentional and unintentional injury.
Site staff includes Principle Investigators, Rohan Akhouri, MD, MPH, MS and Katherine Macmillan, MD from CMH Surgery Trauma Services, Emergency Medical Services, & Critical Care Medicine. Program Director is Kayla Curiel, DNP, APRN, CPNP-PC. Program Manager is Laura Kemerling, MSN, RN, C-NPT.
Traffic Safety Program
The hospital's traffic safety program includes child passenger safety courses approved by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's National Child Passenger Safety Training Course, Safe Travel for All Children: Transporting Children with Special Healthcare Needs. In addition, specialized traffic safety and basic CPS programming is offered to community stakeholders and partners.
Safe Kids Greater Kansas City (SK GKC) (Wyandotte County, KS. & MO counties - Clay, Jackson, and Platte) is a coalition site for Safe Kids Worldwide. Children's Mercy serves as the lead site, and CCS staff serve at coalition coordinators. Based on the community's needs, SK GKC implements evidence-based programs, including car-seat checkup events and bike, pedestrian, water safety, and home safety workshops to help parents and caregivers reduce the risk of injury.
Hospital-based Occupant Protection Program
The hospital-based Occupant Protection program provides screening for conventional and adaptive child passenger safety needs as a measure to support safe hospital discharge and safe travel for patients/families. The CCS oversees the program, often working alongside a multi-disciplinary team of physical therapists, rehab specialists, and pediatricians, providing guidance and fittings by certified child passenger safety technicians (CPSTs) who have specialized training in working with children with special health needs. If warranted, loaner car seats are provided for patients when the child's CPS needs cannot be met with a conventional car seat.
Pedestrian and Bike Safety Program
CCS staff collaborates with BikeWalkKC ( https://bikewalkkc.org) a local non-profit that provides bike and pedestrian education and advocacy to promote walking and biking to elementary schools within the greater Kansas City region.
Home Safety Program
CCS staff collaborates with and supports Charlie's House, the country's only safety demonstration home (http://www.charlieshouse.org), focused on preventing unintentional childhood injuries in and around the home. By increasing awareness, offering public education, and distributing safety devices, staff honor the memory of Charlie Horn. Charlie is a small child who passed away in 2007 as a result of a furniture tip-over accident.
Safe Sleep Program – Bedside Program
A "Safe Sleep, Safe Babies" program is facilitated by bedside nurses, who model a safe sleeping environment and educate families on the best ways to reduce the risk of suffocation of an infant. As outlined by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Back to Sleep 2022 recommendations, caregivers demonstrate how infants should be placed on alone in their bed, on their back, and in a sleep space free of blankets, pillows, stuffed animals, or anything else that poses a risk to suffocation. In support of community outreach, parents/caregivers who cannot provide an appropriate sleep space for their infant are provided with a portable crib, sleep sack, pacifier, and additional education at the time of discharge from the hospital. The Children's Mercy Hospital is a Cribs for Kids Gold Level - certified institution.
Poison Control/Overdose Prevention
CCS supports and helps lead the "Prepped and Ready" Program which aims to help parents and caregivers learn what steps they can take before a crisis develops with their teenager. "Prepped and Ready" equips families with education on suicide prevention, home safety (including safe storage of firearms, medications, etc.), self care, and substance use. The CCS collaborates with hospital staff and local law enforcement / Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to host bi-annual prescription drug take-back days. Events hosted aim to provide a safe, convenient, responsible way of disposing of unused or expired prescription medications, while also educating the public about potential risk of abuse or unintentional ingestion.
Violence and Injury Prevention Taskforce (2024)
The CCS helped formulate and lead the hospital Violence and Injury Prevention Taskforce (V.I.P). It is a hospital-based, multidisciplinary collaborative focusing on identifying and coordinating injury and violence prevention programming throughout the organization and in the community. The taskforce reviews violence and injury trends to promote intentionality of prevention programs to ensure the quality, quantity, timeliness, and effectiveness of services.
For additional information about Injury Free Kansas City, please contact one of our program directors:
rkakhouri@cmh.edu
kgmacmillan@cmh.edu
klcuriel@cmh.edu
lakemerling@cmh.edu
There are currently no events listed for Kansas City.