Programs


The Injury Free Coalition for Kids® at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC) is a hospital-community partnership dedicated to preventing childhood injuries. Since 2000, Injury Free Cincinnati has been working to reduce unintentional injuries to children in the Avondale community. Injury Free Cincinnati’s mission is accomplished by utilizing the national Injury Free model to affect structural and social changes within the Avondale community by 1) creating safe play environments for children; 2) providing safe, supervised out-of-school activities; and 3) offering injury prevention education to children, parents and community.

The coalition selected Avondale as the focus community for its initial injury prevention efforts because of their high rate of injuries and proximity to CCHMC. Avondale is the largest African-American community in Cincinnati with almost 20,000 residents, of which 5,000 are children under 18 years of age. Local research data indicated that African-American children accounted for only 27% of the population, yet they accounted for 36% of all the injury hospitalizations. Nearly 75% of the injury-related deaths in Hamilton County occurred in this population. Avondale reported that 80% of the injuries are unintentional with poisonings and falls being the leading causes for hospitalization.

These demographics and injury statistics contributed to Injury Free Cincinnati choosing Avondale as our first community to focus with injury prevention efforts.

Overall effect of injury reduction in Avondale

Since our inception in 2000, a 43% decrease in injury volume has been realized. This decrease can be attributed to Injury Free Cincinnati's efforts in conjunction with the efforts of other community organizations working to reduce injuries. We appreciate the assistance of all coalition members and partners who helped with this significant decrease in injuries among our children and neighborhood. Expansion efforts into our second focus community, Price Hill, are underway and we plan to help develop a safer place for children to live and play in this area.


Number of Injuries in 7 Cincinnati Neighborhoods
Years 2000 to 2003
Dark Blue=Westwood; Green=West Price Hill; Yellow=Avondale; Pink=North Avondale; Light Blue=Roselawn; Light Yellow=Pleasant Ridge; Teal=Clifton

Community Partners

Community Action Agency(www.cincy-caa.org/everychild.asp) Santa Maria Community Services/Every Child Succeeds(www.santamaria-cincy.org) Price Hill Will(www.pricehillwill.org) People Working Cooperatively(www.pwchomerepairs.org) The Manuel D. & Rhoda Mayerson Foundation(www.mayersonfoundation.org)

Cincinnati Directors


Contact Info

Injury Free Coalition for Kids of Greater Cincinnati
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
Division of Emergency Medicine
3333 Burnet Avenue, MLC 2008
Cincinnati, Ohio 45229

Stephanie Lyons, Program Coordinator
Email: Stephanie.Lyons@cchmc.org
Phone: (513) 636-0576


Mapping address: 3333 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229-3026



Description

Avondale Football Stadium was constructed at South Avondale School in August 2004, with the support of the LISC Foundation, Cincinnati Recreation Commission, Cincinnati Bengals and Cincinnati Public Schools. Prior to building the field, the children of Avondale had nowhere to safely practice and play football. With the stadium, they now have a home field that they can call their own. The new stadium enables 2000 youth football players and cheerleaders to play at a structured, safe home field. At the dedication ceremony, several Bengals players attended as well as members from all local schools, IFCK—Cincinnati and other organizations involved.

We planned for this stadium to be utilized by the two major Pee-wee football teams in Avondale. The two organizations, the Avondale Lions and the Avondale Warriors, separately coach over 1200 children in football with approximately 800 cheerleaders in attendance for the season. Although so many youth participated in this activity, they played on dilapidated fields. The new stadium enabled these children to play at a structured and standard site and aided in reducing the number of childhood injuries and deaths to our children.


Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

Contact Information

Dawne Gardner MBA, CPST
Injury Prevention Specialist
(513) 636-3153
dawne.gardner@cchmc.org



Description

Playground injuries are the leading cause of injury to children in the childcare setting and to children, ages 5 to 14 years old in the school environment. More than 70 percent of playground equipment-related injuries involve falls to the surface and nine percent involve falls onto equipment. One of the most effective means of injury prevention has been the creation of safe environments for children through the building and/or renovation of playgrounds.

Since August of 2001 Injury Free Cincinnati has partnered with local agencies, businesses, schools, and volunteers from around Cincinnati to build and/or renovate 15 local playgrounds.

The CWFF Child Development Center

The CWFF Child Development Center is located in Avondale, Ohio, approximately one mile from Cincinnati Children's Hospital. This playgrounds lack of surfacing was a concern for community leaders and residents. On August 14th, 2010, the community rallied together to update and beautify this playground and the space around it. In addition to rubberized surfacing being added, the community washed and repainted the existing playground equipment and created murals to hang around the playground space.

The Salvation Army Learning Center Playground

On June 19th, 2010, The Injury Free Cincinnati and Children’s Hospital Medical Center held its 11th Community Playground Build at the Salvation Army Learning Center, located in West Price Hill.

This one-day project, funded by Kohl’s Department Stores/Kohl's Cares, provided new, safe playground equipment, safety surfacing and play space beautification for children attending the learning center and living in the surrounding Price Hill community.

St. Lawrence Playground

On August 1, 2009, over 75 volunteers were recruited to build the 10th playground organized by Injury Free Coalition for Kids (IFCK) at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. This build included the installation of a rubberized surface to help prevent fall injuries. The major funder for the project was Kohl’s Department Stores, Kohl’s Cares for Kids Program.

This one-day community project was a family event that featured food, face painting, glitter tattoos, music, a juggler on stilts, carnival games and an inflatable slide making the day fun for all. This project allowed Price Hill residents, members of St. Lawrence Parish, The National Organization of Women in Construction (NAWIC), hospital employees and Kohl’s associates to work together and build a safe play space for the students of St. Lawrence School and the children living in the surrounding community.

Mayfield Park Playground

Nearly 140 volunteers from across Greater Cincinnati gathered on Saturday, June 14, 2008 to build a new playground at Mayfield Park in East Price Hill. This is the ninth playground build organized by Injury Free Coalition for Kids of Greater Cincinnati (IFCK) at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and the first with the Cincinnati Parks Department. The major funder for the project was Kohl’s Department Stores, Kohl’s Cares for Kids Program.

The one-day community project was a family event that featured food, clowns, face painting, arts & crafts, music and fun for all involved. The project allowed Price Hill residents, city and hospital employees, nearly 40 Kohl’s associates and volunteers from the Avondale Youth Council, Quebec Heights School and University of Cincinnati to help build a community asset that will benefit children for years to come. The build day was made possible by the generous assistance of sponsors including The BonBonerie, Kroger, LaRosa’s, Inc., Starbucks, and United Dairy Farmers. Children enrolled in summer classes at a nearby elementary school, Quebec Heights, are excited about using the playground immediately. The equipment will be very useful during the summer and many of the neighborhood families will enjoy the brand new playground.

Dunham Playground

Nearly 140 volunteers from across Greater Cincinnati gathered on Saturday, June 23, 2007 to build a new playground at the Dunham Recreation Center. This is the eighth playground build organized by the Injury Free Coalition for Kids of Greater Cincinnati (IFCK) at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and the Cincinnati Recreation Commission (CRC). The major funder for the project was Kohl’s Department Stores, Kohl’s Cares for Kids Program.

The one-day community playground build project was truly a family event that featured food, fun and fellowship for all involved. The project was a great opportunity for Price Hill residents, CRC and hospital employees, nearly 50 Kohl’s associates and a host of others to help build a community asset that will benefit children for years to come. The playground is located behind the Recreation Center facility in the West Price Hill community of Greater Cincinnati. Children enrolled in the center's summer camp, kinder-prep and preschool programs will use the new playground the most. The equipment will be very useful during summer camp, when the staff has to keep children busy as they rotate the 170 campers through lunch shifts.

The Dunham playground is just a part of IFCK's expansion efforts in Price Hill and plan to help develop a safer place for children to live and play in this area.

8th & Depot Playground

On June 3, 2006, IFCK Cincinnati constructed its first community playground in Price Hill, our next focus community, in partnership with the Cincinnati Recreation Commission. A total of 110 volunteers from the hospital, twelve community organizations, and the Price Hill community helped make this build a tremendous success. The one-day community playground build project was truly a family event that featured food, fun and music for all involved. The 8th & Depot project was made possible through the generous assistance of Kohl’s Department Stores, our major sponsor, along with Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Calvary Episcopal Church, Santa Maria Community Services, the Lower Price Hill Community Council, and Oyler School. The new safe playground now includes a composite play structure, two waist-high grills, three additional benches, and electricity in the existing on-site shelter.

The playground is located at the corner of 8th & Depot directly across the street from Oyler School in the Lower Price Hill community of Greater Cincinnati. The site was chosen as the community residents felt it would enhance the school location, beautify the area, and give the children a safe place to play. With the new playground equipment and electricity, the site will be used for various community events in the future.

The new playground laid the foundation for IFCK’s expansion into Price Hill and plan to help develop a safer place for children to live and play in this area.

Haven Tot Lot

In September 2005, IFCK constructed the Haven Tot Lot with the generous support of Kohl’s Department Stores and over 60 volunteers from the Avondale and local community. The one-day project provided safe, new playground equipment and safety surfacing for children on and near Haven Street in Avondale. The new Haven Tot Lot emphasizes IFCK’s local mission to make Avondale a safer place for children to live and play.

One of IFCK’s most effective means of injury prevention has been the creation of safe environments for children through the renovation of playgrounds. Since 2000, IFCK’s goal was to build five safe playgrounds in Avondale and we accomplished our goal with the help of committed volunteers and community residents in May 2005. The Haven Tot Lot was essentially a bonus playground that we built as an added benefit to the Avondale community. To date, IFCK has completed six playgrounds in Avondale through partnerships with the Cincinnati Recreation Commission (CRC), community institutions and Avondale residents.

Forest & Irving Park

The Forest & Irving Park, completed in May 2005, marked our fifth community playground build. The major donor for this project was Kohl’s Department Stores and Kohl’s Cares for Kids Program. A total of 122 local residents from 10 different organizations throughout the Greater Cincinnati area, including approximately 35 students from Woodward Career Technical High School’s Building Technologies Program took the time to help build. Woodward students gained practical construction experience and had a tremendously fun time building a community asset.

Martin Luther King Tot Lot

On Saturday, September 11, 2004, Cincinnati IFCK held its Fourth Annual Community Playground Build at the Martin Luther King Tot Lot in Avondale. This one day project engaged nearly 120 volunteers of all ages to build safe, new playground equipment and surfacing for the Avondale community. The build fostered a sense of community pride and a safe place for children and adults to gather for outdoor recreation.

Kohl’s Department Stores,Kohl’s Cares for Kids Program, provided major funding for the site’s new playground equipment.
Other playground sponsors include the Pfau Foundation, Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati, and the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Project partners include Cincinnati Recreation Commission, Zion Baptist Church and the Avondale Community Council.

Allstate Little Hands Kids Dream Playground

The 2003 Allstate Little Hands Kids Dream Playground is located at the Hirsch Recreation Center. IFCK enlisted urban youth to plan and build a playground for themselves and their physically challenged peers. This hands-on endeavor culminated a kids’ dream playground and provided an invaluable learning experience in playground safety, the importance of handicap accessibility, project design and community building.

Avondale Kwanzaa Playground

In June of 2002, Cincinnati’s IFCK kicked off the Avondale Kwanzaa Playground with the help of the Allstate Foundation, local sponsors and Avondale residents. Today, the playground features fun equipment, a safety surface and custom Afro-centric accessories that were designed to celebrate the seven principals of Kwanzaa. In addition to building a playground, the volunteers also planted a garden around the area and included eccentric benches and artwork throughout the site. The artwork consists of custom stepping stones, benches, a mural and community garden. The Kwanzaa theme celebrates unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith.

DeHart Hubbard Playground

Like other IFCK programs throughout the country, we decided to construct playgrounds within the two high-risk communities of Avondale and Price Hill to provide children with a safer environment to play. With a generous donation from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and the Division of Emergency Medicine, our first playground was constructed in August 2001.

This successful project not only created an exciting new playground site, but offered a sense of shared ownership and responsibility among residents. The playground was dedicated to William DeHart Hubbard, a Cincinnati native and the first African American to win an Olympic gold medal.

Contact Information

Dawne Gardner, MBA, CPST
Injury Prevention Specialist
(513) 636-3153
dawne.gardner@cchmc.org



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Description

The Safety Resource Center is a partnership between IFCK—Cincinnati, Safe Kids of Greater Cincinnati and CCHMC. These organizations united to provide affordable safety items to at-risk children and their families, while also educating and counseling them on proper use of the item, efficient safety practices and answers to all questions concerning safety.

The safety items are for sale at a price slightly above cost. This low price provides access to safety product to those in need, while also contributing to the maintenance and sustainability of the Safety Resource Center.

Educational materials are also available, and an injury prevention specialist staffs the center to provide extensive injury prevention counseling. Topics addressed include car safety, home safety, bicycle safety, fire safety, pedestrian safety, playground safety, poisonings, recreational safety and water safety. Brochures, fact sheets, coloring books and bookmarks are among the multiple forms of educational materials that are available.

With every purchase, the family receives product-appropriate educational materials as well as further counseling from the specialist. Families who are not interested in purchasing items are also eligible to receive safety education, answers to questions and complimentary education literature. In order to assess the effectiveness of the Safety Resource Center and its efficiency in customer services, the Center’s staff tracks the number of sales and details about each individual who purchases an item. The staff member also documents questions asked, education provided as well as phone messages left on the Center’s voicemail, outside of operating hours. This information is documented to follow the numbers and trends of the Center’s sales as well as customer satisfaction and possible improvements to maximize the efficiency of the Safety Resource Center.

The Safety Resource Center has shown substantial success. Within the first 2 years of operation, the Safety Resource Center provided nearly 1,100 safety products to families and children within the Emergency Department and local community. Between 2005 and 2007, the SRC served approximately 13,000 families. 786 families purchased 816 products and the specialist gave away an additional 473 safety products, creating a total of 1,289 items provided to families.

Contact Information

For more information about the Safety Resource Center, please contact Emily Eschmeyer, Safety Resource Center Specialist, at 513-636-3139 or emily.eschmeyer@cchmc.org



Description

The Safety Boxes are a self tutorial kit that anyone can pick up and use to present on one of the five top unintentional injury safety topics, eliminating the need for an Injury Prevention Coordinator to be present and provide injury prevention education. Potential users of the "Safety-in-a-Box" program need not be an expert on child safety to make use of the Safety Boxes. The curricula and activities are designed to be used by anyone with a desire to keep children safe. To date, we have created Safety Boxes to address bike safety, child passenger safety, playground safety, home safety, and poison control.

Child Passenger Safety Box: Designed to educate children ages 4 to 12 about the importance of wearing seat belts. The instructor’s curriculum is divided into two sections. The first section contains information about child passenger safety. The second section contains classroom activities. The curriculum is designed to emphasize a few important truths about child passenger safety: 1) Everyone should wear a seat belt—no exceptions. 2) Children should not ride in the front seat until they are 13 years old. 3) Children should use a booster seat until they are eight years old and 4’9” tall.

Concussion Safety Designed to provide basic information and resources to education children ages 8 to 18 of the importance of concussion awareness. The key points covered in this safety box include: 1) What a concussion is. 2) Common causes of a concussion. 3) Signs and symptoms of a concussion. 4) What to do if you think you have a concussion. 5) How concussions are treated. 6) When it is safe to return to activities.

Home Safety Designed to empower children ages 4 to 12, to make safe decisions and to seek the help of a grownup when they encounter a hazardous situation in or around the home setting. The curriculum is designed to aid participants in identifying dangers often present in the home setting and emphasize home safety injury prevention methods in the areas of: 1) Fall hazards 2) Fire/Burn safety 3) Gun safety 4) Water Safety

Playground Safety Designed to provide the basic information and resources to educate children ages 4 to 12 on dangers on the playground. The enclosed props and presentation outline are designed to help address the following key points:

1) Understand the importance of playground safety 2) Identify dangers on the playground 3) Empower children to make safe decisions and to seek the help of a grownup when they encounter a hazardous situation on the playground

Poison Safety Designed to educate children ages 4 to 12 on preventing unintentional poisonings and how to alert grown-ups if they se something that could be a potential hazards. The curriculum is designed to emphasize the importance of recognizing candy from medicine and focuses on children staying away from: -Medicine cabinets -Kitchen/bathroom cabinets -Garages

Wheeled Safety Designed to provide basic information and resources to educate children ages 4 to 12 on the importance of wearing a helmet while riding their bicycles, scooters or skates. The enclosed props and presentation outline are designed to help address the following key points: 1) Functions of the brain 2) Proper fit of a helmet for protection 3) Rules of the road

With the educational curriculum and hands on activities provided within each safety box, parents, school staff, churches, troop leaders, coaches, etc. can utilize the Safety-in-a-Box program and become educators and advocates on behalf of child safety.

Contact Information



New Program

Program Title:

 

Description:

 

Contact information:

Mike Gittelman, MD, FAAP

Photograph of Mike Gittelman

Job Title:
Co-Director

Biography:
Mike Gittelman, MD, FAAP, is a pediatric emergency room physician at Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Medical Center in Cincinnati, Ohio and he is an Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the University Of Cincinnati School Of Medicine. He completed his undergraduate work at Swarthmore College and his medical school training at the Medical College of Pennsylvania, both of which are located in Philadelphia, PA. He completed his residency in Pediatrics at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, PA, and a fellowship in Emergency Medicine at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.

His area of expertise is within the field of injury control. Currently, he is the Chairperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics' Section on Injury and Poison Prevention and he serves as a Co-Director for the Injury Free Coalition for Kids in Greater Cincinnati (IFCK). He is involved in resident education on injury prevention, in particular relating to sports safety, firearm safety, playground safety, drowning prevention, and toy safety. His works with high-risk communities, utilizing the IFCK model, in an effort to mobilize communities to reduce pediatric injuries has been well recognized. He has completed several research studies within the field of injury prevention and he is nationally recognized within this field.

Contact Information

Email Address:
mike.gittelman@cchmc.org

Phone Number:
513-636-2274

Mailing Address:
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Division of Emergency Medicine
3333 Burnet Avenue, ML 2008
Cincinnati, Ohio 45229


Wendy J. Pomerantz, MD, MS, FAAP

Photograph of Wendy Pomerantz, MD

Job Title:
Co-Director

Biography:
Wendy received her undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Austin and her medical school degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, Texas. She completed a Pediatrics Residency at Children's Medical Center of Dallas, a Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship at Children's Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati, and a Master's of Science in Epidemiology at the University of Cincinnati. Currently, she has a faculty appointment as a Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati School of Medicine and Children's Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. She has been a pediatric emergency medicine physician since 1998. She has published many peer-reviewed articles in the fields of injury and poison prevention. Her interests include poison prevention, concussions, program evaluation, education, and geographic information systems.

Contact Information

Email Address:
wendy.pomerantz@cchmc.org

Phone Number:
513-636-7966

Mailing Address:
Children's Hospital Medical Center
Division of Emergency Medicine
3333 Burnet Avenue, ML 2008
Cincinnati, Ohio 45229


Speaking Availability

Wendy Pomerantz, MD is available to answer your group's questions via telephone or e-mail.

Wendy Pomerantz, MD is available to travel to speak to your group in person.

Areas of expertise:
Building A Safe Community
Coalition Building
Research and Data
Research and Data

Stephanie Lyons

[photograph here]

Job Title:
Senior Specialist- Injury Prevention

Biography:
Stephanie Lyons is a Senior Injury Prevention Specialist with the Comprehensive Children’s Injury Center. Stephanie is a Child Passenger Safety Technician Instructor and specializes in safe transport of children with special healthcare needs. Stephanie has also been involved with the home safety, concussion, and bike helmet programs. She enjoys applying her love and knowledge of injury prevention both professionally and at home with her husband and two little boys.

Contact Information

Email Address:
stephanie.lyons@cchmc.org

Phone Number:
513-636-0576

Mailing Address:
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
3333 Burnet Ave MLC 3019
Cincinnati, OH 45229


New Person

Name:

[photograph here]

Job Title:

Biography:

Email Address:

Phone Number:

Mailing Address:

List with speakers: yes / no
Answer questions by phone / email: yes / no
Available to speak onsite: yes / no
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