Nebraska Injury Prevention and Control News    Issue #76                                                                      December 2017

The Nebraska Injury Prevention Program would like to wish everyone a Healthy and Safe Holiday Season.

In the News

Deaths Involving Fentanyl, Fentanyl Analogs, and U-47700

Illicitly-manufactured fentanyl is a key factor driving opioid overdose deaths. Fentanyl analogs are substances that are structurally or pharmacologically similar to fentanyl and are increasingly contributing to a complex illicit opioid market, especially with extensive mixing or co-use with other illicit drugs such as heroin and cocaine. This report analyzed fatal opioid overdose data from 10 states participating in the Enhanced State Opioid Overdose Surveillance (ESOOS) program.  Read the full article here .

6 Tips to Protect Your Kids from Carbon Monoxide

Fuel-powered devices can provide wonderful benefits to families when used properly. But they also underscore an important necessity in the home: the need for a carbon monoxide alarm. Carbon monoxide poisoning can result from faulty furnaces or other heating appliances, portable generators, water heaters, clothes dryers, or cars left running in garages. At its worst, carbon monoxide can cause severe side effects or even death. Young children are especially vulnerable to the effects of carbon monoxide because of their smaller bodies. Children process carbon monoxide differently than adults, may be more severely affected by it, and may show signs of poisoning sooner. Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning include headache, nausea and drowsiness. Read more statistics and tips here.

Nebraska Safe Babies: Safe Sleep Campaign

Fourteen Nebraska Hospitals have become NE Safe Babies: Safe Sleep Hospital Champions.  Twenty-one other hospitals are working toward the Hospital Champion Status.  In March 2017, the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Division of Public Health in conjunction with the Nebraska Hospital Association, the Nebraska Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Nebraska Perinatal Quality Improvement Collaborative introduced the Nebraska Safe Babies Initiative – Infant Safe Sleep Campaign spreading the safe sleep message to parents and caregivers. In 2015, Nebraska averaged over two Sudden Unexpected Infant Deaths (SUID) per month. Even one infant death is too many.   The success of the Back to Sleep Campaign (now the Safe to Sleep Campaign) demonstrated there is a need for consistent, evidenced based education on infant safe sleep. A survey of all birthing hospitals in Nebraska, revealed only 78% of the surveyed hospitals have an Infant Safe Sleep policy and procedure, and only 63% required education or training for hospital personnel caring for children under the age of one.  Patient education materials and educational processes vary between hospitals. Some hospitals are not meeting the Nebraska Revised Statute 71-2103 requirements.   The overall goal of the Nebraska Safe Babies: Safe Sleep Campaign is to provide evidenced based education to parents of newborns as well as birthing hospital staff.  Providing a consistent baseline education on safe sleep for all hospital personnel caring for children under the age of one, will ensure the same consistent safe sleep message will be given to over 26,500 parents of newborns across the state. The Nebraska Safe Babies: Safe Sleep Campaign starts within the hospital setting, encouraging all Nebraska birthing hospitals to become a Safe Sleep Champion. To be considered a Safe Sleep Champion, the hospital will sign a pledge, create or update a Safe Sleep Policy, provide yearly education to hospital personnel, model safe sleep recommendations, and educate parents with evidenced based safe sleep materials in accordance to the Nebraska Revised Statute 71-2103 and the 2016 AAP Safe Sleep Recommendations New safe sleep materials include ABCs of Safe Sleep brochure and ABCs of Safe Sleep Video. Materials can be located at http://dhhs.ne.gov/publichealth/SIDS/Pages/Resources.aspx DHHS can assist hospitals in becoming a Safe Sleep Hospital Champion by answering questions, providing a Safe Sleep Toolkit (which includes a sample hospital policy), and explaining more about the Nebraska Safe Babies Initiative and the Infant Safe Sleep campaign.  Learn more about the NE Safe Babies: Safe Sleep Campaign at: dhhs.ne.gov/HospitalCampaign For more information, please reach out to Jackie Moline, DHHS Maternal/Infant Community Health Nurse at (402) 471-0165 or jackie.moline@nebraska.gov .

Safe Kids Nebraska Car Seat Tethers: Essential for Safety but Consistently Overlooked For 20 years, Safe Kids Worldwide, General Motors and Chevrolet have partnered to protect children in and around cars. This multifaceted effort includes education not only through general awareness but also working one-on-one with families at car seat checkups to make sure children are getting the best possible protection w hen they travel on the roads. Despite progress over the years, there is one aspect of car seat safety that has seen no progress: top tether use. This new research examines the use of top tethers in forward-facing car seats with a harness. View the full study here.  Holiday Safety Tips In 2012, 3,270 children 19 and under were seen in emergency rooms for injuries caused by nonelectric holiday decorations, like broken ornaments. In 2012, an estimated 192,000 children were treated in an emergency room for a toy-related injury. And in the same year, an estimated 136,314 children ages 19 and under were injured due to a fire or burn.  See full tip sheet here .

Toy Safety Toys and games are tons of fun for kids and adults. Whether your kids are working on a puzzle, playing with building blocks or even inventing their own games, here are a few things to think about to help them stay safer and have a blast.   In 2011, 188,400 children under the age of 15 years were seen in emergency departments for toy-related injuries. That's 516 kids every day. More than a third of those injured were children 5 and under. See tips here. ‌

Motor Vehicle Safety Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving This holiday season,  Nebraska Department of Highway Safety  is teaming up with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to remind all drivers about the dangers of drinking and driving. With the holiday festivities and extra office parties taking place, it’s essential to plan a sober ride home before ever leaving for the event. This holiday, as you head out for a night of merrymaking, remember: Buzzed Driving Is Drunk Driving. The NHTSA campaign will run from November 24-December 12, 2017. According to NHTSA, 37,461 people were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2016, and 28 percent (10,497) of those fatalities occurred in crashes during which a driver had a blood alcohol concentration over the legal limit of .08. The holidays prove to be extra dangerous to drivers as more people—drivers and pedestrians alike—are out on the roads.

Older Adult Falls  Fourteen New Nebraska Tai Chi Instructors Certified Fourteen new Nebraska Tai chi Instructors were recently certified to teach the 8-form Tai chi: Moving for Better Balance Program. Instructors will return to their communities and lead Tai chi classes for older Nebraskans. The balance and gait training program of controlled movements is proven to reduce falls by 55%. For more information contact: Greta.Glenn@nebraska.gov   Test Your Knowledge of Falls

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), every year 25% of people 65 or older in the US have a fall. What you know - or don't know - about falls can make a big difference in your risk for having one. How much do you know about falls? Take this quiz from the Wisconsin Institute for Healthy Aging and find out.

Concussion Connecting Domestic Violence and Brain Injury  Lincoln, Nebraska—Oct. 9, 2017—Two $85,000 grants from Women Investing in Nebraska (WIN) will boost efforts to help victims of domestic violence and help infants who spent time in a neonatal intensive care unit get needed medical assessment and treatment. WIN announced its grants to the Brain Injury Alliance of Nebraska and to the University of Nebraska Medical Center Munroe-Meyer Institute at its 2017 grant awards celebration on Oct. 5 in Lincoln. The grant made to the Brain Injury Alliance of Nebraska and its domestic violence project builds upon a pilot program in which people who are assisting victims were trained to screen for possible brain injuries, including concussion. Sixty percent of the 93 people screened in the pilot exhibited indicators of such injuries.  Peggy Reisher, executive director of the alliance, said recognizing such injuries is the first step to getting proper treatment for the victims, informing their care and enhancing their quality of life. First responders, attorneys, corrections officers and others are among those who can be trained to screen for indicators of concussion or brain injury, which could be mistaken for disorganization, belligerence, intoxication, fatigue or other conditions.

“This extremely high incidence rate provides strong support for the need to equip shelter staff and health care providers with the tools and traumatic brain injury facts so they can better serve and meet the needs of victims of domestic violence,” Reisher said. The project is called Brain Injury and Domestic Violence: Making the Connection and Improving Care, and the people trained in the pilot program said the findings were eye-opening.  Reisher said there is little research on the incidence of brain injury related to domestic violence. To obtain in-depth screening information, the Nebraska group partners with Kate Higgins, Psy.D., a neuropsychologist at Sanford University of South Dakota Medical Center, who previously was a neuropsychology postdoctoral fellow at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior. Other collaborators include the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services; the U.S. Center for Disease Control; Schmeeckle Research; Nebraska Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence; Friendship Home; Clinic with a Heart; Health 360 Integrated Care Clinic; and Voices of Hope .

Prescription Drug Overdose New Opioid Overdose Materials for Patients CDC released several patient-centered materials aimed at educating people about opioid use for acute pain. All materials are free and available for download. What You Need to Know outlines the differences in acute and chronic pain and what you need to know when prescribed opioids for acute pain management. Get the Facts Infographic highlights important information about acute pain management for common conditions and injuries. Know the Signs. Save a Life is a resource that identifies factors that can increase the risk of overdose and the steps to take to prevent overdose related death. Rx Awareness: Impact of an Epidemic Read more about how we can work together to share stories of Americans whose lives have been impacted by the opioid epidemic

Trauma New Trauma Nurse Specialist Clay Jordan, RN, NREMT Paramedic, will be joining the Emergency Health System’s Trauma Program starting on December 18, 2017 as the new Trauma Nurse Specialist.  Clay currently works as the Trauma Nurse Coordinator at Tri Valley Health System in Cambridge. Clay also works as Flight Paramedic/Outreach Coordinator in the McCook area. In addition to his education and experience, Clay will bring to the program an impressive list of certifications to include: PALS Instructor, NE EMS Instructor and Pre-hospital Trauma Life Support provider, just to name a few. Clay’s office will be located in McCook.  H is contact information will be shared as it becomes available.

Safety Observances

Tie One On For Safety November 1, 2017- January 1, 2018 Safe Toys and Gifts Month December Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over December

Quick Links Safe Kids Nebraska    Safe Kids Event Calendar    Parents Drive the Message Nebraska Injury Prevention Program

Contact Information

Peg Ogea-Ginsburg, MA          Injury Prevention Program Coordinator   peg.ogeaginsburg@nebraska.gov Jason Kerkman, MPH  Safe Kids Nebraska Coordinator  jason.kerkman@nebraska.gov Amy Reynoldson Prescription Drug Overdose Prevention Coordinator Amy.Reynoldson@nebraska.gov

Jeanne Bietz, MA  Motor Vehicle Safety Coordinator jeanne.bietz@nebraska.gov Ashley Newmyer, MPH, CPH Epidemiology Surveillance Coordinator ashley.newmyer@nebraska.gov Felicia Quintana-Zinn, MS, MBA Prescription Drug Overdose Prevention Epidemiologist Felicia.Quintana-Zinn@nebraska.gov Celeste Reker, MPH                         Crash Outcome Data Evaluation Data Analyst   Celeste.Reker@nebraska.gov

Injury Prevention and Control E-News is a monthly newsletter distributed to partners of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services Injury Prevention and Control Program.

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