INJURY PREVENTION INSTRUCTION IN THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT

Study objective: To describe preventable pediatric injuries and the proportion receiving documented injury prevention instruction by emergency department personnel. Design: Retrospective chart review. Setting: A rural Level I trauma center Types of participants: All injured children aged birth through 15 years presenting to our hospital from January 1, 1987, through December 31, 1987. Measurements and main results: During the study period, 1,449 injuries presented to the trauma center. Motor vehicle crashes caused the largest number of preventable injuries (71), although the proportion of preventable injuries was higher among poisonings, burns, and pedestrian-automobile collisions. Among the 1,313 patients available to ED personnel at discharge, injury prevention instruction was indicated in 27% of cases but documented in the medical record in only 3%. ED personnel were more likely to document instruction for preventing poisoning than other causes of injury. Conclusion: Most preventable pediatric injuries treated and released by ED personnel do not receive documented injury prevention instruction.