Injury Prevention

Unintentional injuries, also known as accidental injuries, includes both nonfatal and fatal injuries that occur without deliberate intent to cause harm.¹ Unintentional injuries remain a leading threat to the safety of children and teens in the United States.² According to the CDC, unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death for youth ages 1 to 17.³ Age-specific patterns for unintentional injury include:

Infants (under 1 year old): Suffocation-related fatalities, mostly due to unsafe sleep environments
Children ages 1-4: Drowning
Children ages 5-17: Motor vehicle accidents

Community insights

Nonfatal, unintentional injuries place significant mental, physical and financial burdens on children and their families. Children who suffer unintentional injuries often miss time from school, not only disrupting their education but also placing additional strain on caregivers, who may struggle with missed work. In the eight-county primary service area—Collin, Denton, Grayson, Hood, Johnson, Parker, Tarrant and Wise counties, approximately 1 in 5 children ages birth to 17 (about 233,300) received emergency care for an unintentional injury and 1 in 5 school-age children (about 153,500) missed more than one day of school due to accidental injury.⁴

Our focus areas and key efforts

Gun safety

Provides education on gun safety
Focuses on safe storage, safe children and safe play
Helps to reduce gun injuries through family interventions
Offers gun safety train-the-trainer course to professionals

Gun safety information

Unintentional poisoning

Focuses on safe dosing, safe storage and safe disposal
Distributes medication lock boxes to families after educational sessions
Offers poison prevention train-the-trainer courses to professionals

Poison prevention information

Unsafe sleep environment

Provides education through a train-the-trainer and annual symposium
Distributes education and resources to promote a safe sleep environment for infants
Supports community awareness campaigns and events to raise awareness and encourage safe sleep practices.

Safe baby sleep information

Vehicle safety

Provides free car seat checks to instruct families on safe installation
Distributes new car seats to families with urgent needs
Offers national certification courses to those interested in becoming certified technicians
Promotes teen driving safety and resources
Provides heat stroke safety information

Vehicle safety information

Water safety

Provides education on pool, open water and bathtub safety
Helps to reduce drownings through family interventions
Offers water safety train-the-trainer course to professionals

Water safety information

Contact us about our program

For questions or information on injury prevention, please email eric.gonzalez@cookchildrens.org .

Access free resources

The Center for Community Health is committed to providing free education and access to our data.

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References

¹Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Injuries among children and teens. Published 2022. Accessed August 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/injury/features/child-injury/index.html
²Xu J, Murphy SL, Kockanek KD, Arias E. Mortality in the United States, 2018. Published 2020. Accessed August 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db355.htm
³Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS). Accessed August 2024. http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars
⁴Community Health Needs Assessment Report. (2024). Cook Children’s Health Care System. Fort Worth, Texas; or Cook Children’s CHNA 2024 at www.cookchildrens.org/chna (accessed September 2025).