The mission of the Injury Prevention Center (IPC) at Connecticut Children’s is to reduce unintentional injury and violence among Connecticut resident and to translate research into injury prevention programs and policy.
 

Focus Areas

For pediatric injury prevention, the IPC has three focus areas:

  • Intimate partner violence
  • Teen driving safety
  • Youth suicide

In addition, the IPC provides trauma and injury prevention programs for adults in partnership with Hartford Hospital. For adult injury prevention, the IPC has two focus areas:

  • Intimate partner violence
  • Elderly fall prevention
     

Core Activities

To accomplish our mission, the IPC implements four core activities:

Our Team

The Injury Prevention Center team is dedicated to keeping Connecticut’s children and families safe through a variety of injury prevention initiatives.

Kelsey Arias, MPH

Program Coordinator, CT DPH Community Violence Intervention Grants Program

Renee Beavers, LMSW

Hospital-based Violence Intervention Program (HVIP) Specialist

Rebecca Beebe, PhD

Research Scientist

Bruce Bernstein, PhD

Research Scientist

Kevin Borrup, DrPH, JD, MPA

Executive Director

Brendan Campbell, MD, MPH

Donald W. Hight Endowed Chair in Pediatric Surgery, Chief Surgical Quality Officer, Research Scientist

Susan DiVietro, PhD

Research Scientist

Meghan Fish, MA

Research Associate

Sarah Gedeon, LMSW

Hospital-based Violence Intervention Program (HVIP) Research Assistant

Damion Grasso, PhD

Research Scientist

Amy Hunter, MPH, PhD

Research Scientist

Amber Jackson

Program Coordinator

J. Leslie Knod, MD

Research Scientist

Garry Lapidus, PA-C, MPH

Co-Founder, Injury Prevention Center

Amalyn Morales

ASCEND Program Coordinator

Sydney Osborne, MPH

Program Assistant

Mayra Pino

Research Assistant I

Steven C. Rogers, MD

Research Scientist

Elizabeth Sagan

Program Coordinator

Amy Watkins, MPH

Manager

Our Approach to Research

Over the past 30 years, research at the Injury Prevention Center (IPC) has contributed to actual reductions in both fatal and non-fatal injury rates, most clearly demonstrated by how our work helped to drive the implementation and enhancement of safety measures, from pedestrians to teen drivers and passengers of any age. 

The IPC’s scientific approach to injury prevention calls for interventions to be designed, evaluated, and then implemented based on a research-driven process of surveillance, hazard identification, risk assessment and analysis, and the transfer of successful interventions into widespread adoption and practice.

Starting in 2011, the IPC refined its approach to research by considering the community need, the potential for change, and our own capacity, in identifying three research priority areas:

  • family violence in all its forms;
  • child and adolescent suicide prevention; and
  • teen driving safety and related road safety issues.

The IPC’s research team is committed to making a difference. For more information on our work, please contact us, or visit our page on Google Scholar.

History

Connecticut Children’s Injury Prevention Center has a rich history dating back more than 30 years.

  • In 1990, the Department of Pediatrics at Hartford Hospital established the Injury Prevention Center (IPC) to reduce unintentional injury and violence among Connecticut’s children and adolescents.
  • In 1993, the IPC joined Safe Kids Worldwide to create Safe Kids Connecticut, which is a statewide network of organizations and individuals that work together to prevent unintentional injuries in children ages 0-19. Safe Kids Connecticut works to reduce death and injury rates of children through community education, public policy change, creating safe environments, and conducting research. 
  • In 1996, upon the opening of Connecticut Children’s, the IPC became an integral program of the organization’s mission to improve the health and safety of the state’s children.
  • In 2001, the IPC joined the Injury Free Coalition for Kids, a national program comprised of hospital-based trauma centers that implement community outreach programs anchored in research, education, and advocacy. The Injury Free Coalition for Kids of Hartford serves the residents of Hartford and the Greater Hartford regions in the following areas: pedestrian safety, bicycle helmet use, booster and car seats, home safety, fire safety, fall prevention, violence prevention, and child discipline techniques.
  • In 2006, Connecticut Children’s and Hartford Hospital established the Trauma Institute to enhance trauma care services to children and adults. At the outset, the Trauma Institute identified injury prevention as an important component of the institute that is necessary to meet the American College of Surgeons Level One Trauma Center requirements.
  • In 2007, the IPC expanded its focus to include adult injury prevention services and providing additional support to the Trauma Institute.
  • In 2013, the IPC and Hartford Hospital developed and signed a formal contract agreement for the IPC to provide injury prevention services to Hartford Hospital.

Service and Leadership

The Connecticut Children’s Injury Prevention Center (IPC) team plays an important role in service, leadership, and scholarship at the local, state, and national level. Throughout its more than 30-year history, a core value in our work has been ensuring our involvement in national level discussions, state level planning and intervention implementation, and serving to inform and to be informed by actors doing the work at the local level.

Collectively, the team at the IPC devotes a number of volunteer hours, in addition to hours that fall within their Connecticut Children’s work, to support and promote the well-being of children, families, and communities by engaging and being involved in conversations that drive real change at all levels of society. Team members also serve as academic journal editors and reviewers in their fields. Below are just some examples of our record of leadership and service, now and into the future.

American Public Health Association (APHA) – Team members are actively engaged with the premier national organization that serves to promote the overall health of all Americans. The Injury Control and Emergency Health Services (ICEHS) section serves as the professional home for many on our team. Within ICEHS, team members have served as chairs of the section, section councilors, and members of the Scientific and Policy Committees. Within the overall leadership structure of APHA, team members have served in leadership roles within the Executive Board, Governing Council, Nominations Committee, Action Board, and Joint Policy Committee.

American College of Surgeons, Committee on Trauma – The IPC supports the Level 1 Trauma Center designation at Connecticut Children’s. The medical director of the IPC and director of pediatric trauma is actively engaged at the national level in collaborating with surgical colleagues to advance efforts to prevent trauma. Other faculty also participate with the COT.

Northeast and Caribbean Injury Prevention Network (NCIPN) – This is a long-standing regional collaborative dedicated to enhancing and supporting the sustainability of injury and violence prevention programs among the Northeastern states and Caribbean territories. The NCIPN comprises Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, the Virgin Islands, and Vermont. Our team regularly contributes to the NCIPN and IPC leaders serve on the NCIPN-lead Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Peer Leadership Team on Motor Vehicles (NPLT-MV).

Safe Kids Worldwide – Safe Kids works with an extensive network of more than 400 coalitions in the United States and with partners in more than 30 countries to reduce traffic injuries, drownings, falls, burns, poisonings, and more. As a long time state-level program, our Safe Kids Connecticut program is regularly part of national conversations on how to better promote the agenda of children’s safety.

Injury Free Coalition for Kids – Currently, the Coalition includes more than 30 sites located in just as many cities, each housed in the trauma center of their participating institution. Our Hartford program is an IFCK site and our team has a long history of service on the Board of the Injury Free Coalition and working with other Injury Free Coalition sites around the country.

Connecticut Public Health Association (CPHA) – CPHA is the local affiliate of APHA and is a vital voice when it comes to ensuring the health of the people of Connecticut. IPC team members serve as members of the Board and leaders within their committee structures.

State Health Improvement Plan (SHIP) – The SHIP, developed and led by the Department of Public Health, provides the vision for health improvement objectives that inform action by public and private partners around the state. IPC leadership participates in plan development activities and serves on workgroups and action teams related to childhood injury prevention.

Connecticut Suicide Advisory Board (CTSAB) – Since January 2012, the CTSAB has functioned as the single state-level suicide advisory board in Connecticut that addresses suicide prevention and response across the lifespan. It is cooperatively co-chaired by the Connecticut Departments of Mental Health and Addiction Services and Children and Families (DCF), and is legislatively mandated under DCF. Connecticut Children’s has been a member since the Suicide Youth Advisory Board folded into CTSAB in 2012.

Connecticut Violent Death Reporting System Advisory Board – Connecticut is an implementing state of the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS). NVDRS is a CDC-funded surveillance program that seeks to track all intentional deaths in the country (homicide and suicide). In 1998, in collaboration with Harvard, the IPC served as one of the pilot sites for the system that evolved into the NVDRS. IPC leadership currently serves on the CTVDRS Advisory Board.

Connecticut Impaired Driving Task Force – The Connecticut Governor’s Highway Safety Representative officially established the Connecticut Impaired Driving Task Force in 2013 and granted the Task Force authority to address the detrimental effects of driving under the influence on State roadways. IPC leaders serve on the Task Force and provide the Task Force with a public health lens in looking at impaired driving in the State.

Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence (CCADV) – As the leading voice for victims of domestic violence and those agencies that serve them, our team works closely with CCADV to address violence against women. CCADV is a membership organization of Connecticut’s 18 domestic violence service agencies that provide critical support to victims including safety planning, emergency shelter, court advocacy, counseling and support groups, among other services.

The IPC team is involved throughout the community serving in roles on governing boards of community agencies and local public health authorities, and volunteering their time to work with local organizations serving the communities in which they work and live. The following are just some of the organizations, agencies, and committees that we are involved with: Center for Latino Progress, COMPASS Youth Collaborative, City of Hartford HVIP & Rapid Response, Central Connecticut Health District, Interval House, the Farmington Valley Trails Council, Hartford Complete Streets Committee, and the Community Renewal Team.

Injury Prevention Center Video Library

Looking for instructional videos on how to keep your children safe? IPC provides multiple videos to educate parents. 
 

New Car Seat Safety Laws (Effective October 1, 2017)

Connecticut Children’s Safe Kids Coordinator Luis Rivera shares everything you need to know about the new car seat safety laws in this step by step video. Watch video
 

Watch for Me Connecticut: Pedestrian Safety

Pedestrian safety and safe places to walk and bike are important for supporting active, vibrant communities. The Watch for Me Connecticut program aims to reduce pedestrian and bicycle injuries and deaths through a comprehensive, targeted approach of public education and police enforcement. Watch video
 

2017 Safe Kids Connecticut Fair

Connecticut Children’s hosted the 2017 Safe Kids Connecticut Fair. Watch video
 

Injury Prevention Center Celebrates 25 Years

Connecticut Children’s Injury Prevention Center celebrates 25 years of educating the community and keeping kids safe with a special anniversary video! Watch video
 

Connecticut Children’s and Kohl’s Road Safety: Share the Road

Connecticut Children’s Injury Prevention Center joins the Kohl’s Road Safety campaign to share a very important message about sharing the road! Watch video
 

Where’s Baby?

This year, more than 16 children have died from heatstroke after being left in a hot car. Look before you lock. Visit www.wheresbaby.org for more life-saving tips. Watch video
 

Drowning Prevention

Do you know what to do? Watch video
 

Helmets Protect Your Brain

This special episode of SuperSafe Comics shares the importance of helmets in a fun, engaging way! Watch video