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 View the county-level snapshot to learn more about issues related to injury prevention in our eight-county service area.
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
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
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.
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
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
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.
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
4 Community 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).