When a child gets hurt call it an ‘injury’ not an ‘accident’ urges updated position statement

In an update to a position statement from 2012, the Canadian Pediatric Society focuses on unintentional injury to children and not injury that comes from violence.It offers three main recommendations to physicians. First, pediatric injury prevention should be a core competency in medical education, including evidence-based training on injury prevention counselling. Continuing medical education should support this knowledge. Second, physicians should ensure that educational tools and resources are available in primary care clinical spaces and in the emergency department to promote pediatric injury prevention counselling at “high-impact teachable moments,” including after an injury. Third, physicians should start using the terms “injury” or “injury event” instead of accident in verbal or written communication or charting. This can help reinforce that injuries in children and adolescents are preventable.The mindset echoes work done by the WHO, UNICEF and Parachute Canada, a Canadian national injury prevention organization, to underline that injuries are not random, but avoidable health outcomes. This shift in thinking emphasizes that intervention can make a difference in lowering injury events. The position statement goes beyond speaking to physicians and makes recommendations for governments and public health professionals. It calls for a federal child injury prevention strategy, with clear priorities and measurable targets. Another recommendation is to expand and improve child injury surveillance systems at multiple levels of government in order to have timely and shareable data. There’s guidance for public health changes to address the social determinants of health to reduce injuries by engaging with local organizations who work with communities disproportionally affected by pediatric injuries. Social determinants of health impact injury rates, including factors like family income, rural and racial disparities. For example, children living in lower-income families have higher injury rates and children in urban setting suffer different injuries than those living in rural areas (e.g., pedestrian-related injuries vs. off-road vehicle injuries).A common question in injury prevention in children is how to balance appropriate risk-taking in play with injury prevention. The idea is to have children exposed to risks that they can manage but to avoid hazards that would cause harm. The majority of injuries in children are unrelated to free play, the position statement notes. The CPS released a position statement on this in 2024.The position statement calls for national guidelines and tools for pediatric injury prevention counselling in all healthcare settings. The guidance should include age-appropriate risk-taking in play.The position statement was created by Dr. Emilie Beaulieu, Dr. Amir Wachtel, Dr. Suzanne Beno, Dr. Daniel Rosenfield and André Champagne of the CPS Injury Prevention Committee. It is on the Canadian Pediatric Society’s website.

When a child gets hurt call it an ‘injury’ not an ‘accident’ urges updated position statement

Register for free access or login.

Related Topics