Injury Center Connection Newsletter
Fall/Winter 2011

Partnership Matters

Dr. Barbara Barlow is the 2011 CDC Foundation Hero Award Recipient

Barbara Barlow, MD received the 2011 CDC Foundation Hero Award at a special event held by CDC. The CDC Foundation honored Dr. Barlow for her leadership and innovation in working with communities to implement science-based approaches to reducing injuries to children. Learn more about Dr. Barlow.

Dr. Gary Smith Receives the 2011 CPSC Chairman’s Commendation Circle Award

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) developed a new program designed to honor people and organizations who have contributed in an important way to the benefit of consumers by directly and significantly reducing deaths, preventing injuries and improving product safety.  Dr. Gary Smith, founder, director and principal investigator of the Center for Injury Research and Policy which is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was presented with the 2011 Chairman’s Commendation Circle Award by CPSC for his significant contributions towards consumer product safety. Dr. Smith is a nationally-recognized pediatrician and professor of pediatrics, epidemiology, and emergency medicine at Ohio State University, who has dedicated his life to injury prevention. Learn more at the Center for Injury Research and Policy.

Concussions Update

According to the October 7th issue of CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, emergency department visits for sports, and recreation–related traumatic brain injuries (TBI), including concussions among children and adolescents, increased by 60 percent (153,375 in 2001 to 248,418 in 2009) during the last decade. CDC researchers believe much of the increase occurred because more adults realized the youngsters needed to be seen by health care providers. The study showed that bicycling, football, playground activities, basketball, and soccer were the primary sports involved.

During the last 10 years, as part of the Heads Up initiative, CDC staff have worked to raise awareness about TBI, including concussions, and to improve prevention, recognition, and response to this injury among health care and school professionals, parents, coaches, and children and adolescents. Most recently, with the support from the National Football League and CDC Foundation, CDC created new online training to provide health care professionals with an overview of what they need to know about concussion among young athletes. This course, called Heads Up to Clinicians: Addressing Concussion in Sports among Kids and Teens, was completed in collaboration with an expert work group and 13 leading medical organizations. It is free and includes a continuing education opportunity.

Visit CDC's Concussion web site to view the course or for more information about concussion, including educational materials and tools for health care and school professionals, coaches, parents, and athletes.

CDC’s Tale of Our Cities Meetings Bring Together Domestic and International Leaders to Address Terrorist Use of Explosives

CDC’s Tale of Our Cities: Planning for Interdisciplinary Response to Terrorist Use of Explosives meetings gather key domestic and international leaders together to improve the ability to save lives and to build resilience in response to terrorist bombings. CDC staff held five Tale of Our Cities meetings in 2011: 1) New York City (March), 2) Seattle (November), 3) Atlanta (November), 4) San Diego (December), and 5) Houston (December).  Send email to ncipcdirinfo@cdc.gov for information on future events. Learn more about CDC’s efforts in disaster response.

CDC Releases Practical Advice about Developing Materials to Match the Health Literacy Skills of Older Adults

CDC’s health literacy web site has a new section to help health care and other professionals develop materials that will help them communicate more effectively with older adults and their caregivers. The web site includes self-assessments, background information about health literacy, steps to improve materials, and links to resources about older adults and caregivers. The new content builds on CDC’s expert panel report on older adults and health literacy issues. Visit Health Literacy: Audiences for more information.