Little Sparks, Big Safety: Making Fire Prevention Fun and Effective for Kids

Enjuli Chhaniara, DO, MPH
Natalie Pardo, DO, MPH
Veronica Gullapalli, MD
Phung Dang, DO
Sara Horan, MD
Hailey Nelson, MD, FAAP, IBCLC
Stacey Nolan, BS

Burn and fire-related injuries remain a leading and preventable cause of morbidity and mortality among children in the United States. Nationally, approximately 80,000 pediatric burn injuries are treated in emergency departments annually, resulting in nearly 300 pediatric deaths each year. Children under five years of age account for over half of burn-related hospital visits, with scald injuries from hot liquids and steam being the most common mechanism. In California’s Central Valley, risk is further increased by multigenerational households, frequent home cooking, high ambient temperatures, and limited access to culturally and linguistically appropriate prevention education. Given that more than half of the population identifies as Latino/Hispanic, bilingual, accessible caregiver education is essential for effective injury prevention.

A community-engaged, social media–based burn prevention program was developed in partnership with CAL FIRE, which provided subject-matter expertise and dissemination support. The program targeted caregivers and families of young children in the Central Valley. A needs assessment and review of existing digital resources identified four priority prevention domains: kitchen safety, scald prevention, emergency fire preparedness, and campfire safety. Educational content was co-developed by pediatric residents and faculty and disseminated through a pediatric hospital blog, residency and hospital-wide social media platforms, and CAL FIRE’s official social media channels. Materials included bilingual (English and Spanish) infographics, short educational videos, and written posts designed to maximize accessibility, engagement, and cultural relevance.

Program evaluation is ongoing and will use a mixed-methods approach to assess both reach and clinical impact. Digital engagement metrics include blog page views, unique visitors, geographic reach within the Central Valley, time on page, and social media impressions, shares, comments, saves, and engagement rates. Broader dissemination will be assessed through amplification via CAL FIRE’s established digital networks. Clinical outcomes will be evaluated by comparing pediatric burn-related emergency department visits before and after implementation, including subgroup analyses by burn mechanism. In addition, caregiver feedback and chart review will be used to identify knowledge gaps and inform iterative improvements to educational content.

This interprofessional, digitally delivered injury prevention initiative demonstrates a scalable and cost-effective model for improving pediatric burn safety education. Collaboration between pediatric clinicians and public safety partners enables rapid dissemination of culturally responsive, bilingual educational materials. The integration of structured digital engagement metrics with clinical outcome evaluation provides a framework for assessing impact and supports potential replication in other high-risk communities.

1. Identify key risk factors for pediatric burn injuries in high-risk communities such as California’s Central Valley.
2. Describe how a social media–based, bilingual education program can be used for pediatric injury prevention.
3. Outline methods for evaluating both digital engagement and clinical outcomes in a community-based prevention program.