About the Orange County Safe Communities Program
Updated: October 16, 2006
From a national perspective trauma is the
third leading cause of death in the United States. It is the leading cause
of death in persons between the ages of 1 and 44. Approximately 50% of
all trauma-related deaths occur at the scene or within the first few minutes
following injury due to life threatening conditions such as airway compromise,
hemorrhage or major central nervous system trauma. Trauma victims with
these lethal injuries have little chance for survival, even if the most
advanced system of trauma care is immediately available. Only by preventing
these injuries can there be a significant reduction in early deaths. Injury
prevention practices are essential in preventing or reducing injury, death,
and disability through out the continuum of trauma care.
"If a disease were killing our children
in the proportion that accidents are, people would be outraged and demand
that this killer be stopped."
C. Everett Koop, former Surgeon General
The defining characteristics of a Safe Community
are:
- An injury prevention public awareness system which
reaches and becomes a part of the daily life of the entire community
- The use of a variety of data sources to determine
the community's traffic safety issues
- Regular reviews and evaluations of the data to
guide injury prevention work . the involvement of the citizens in the
community in a proactive manner, and
- Partners in all areas of the community working
together for a common goal: to create a safer place to live
Research has shown that injuries are not
accidents, but are predictable and preventable events, which can be controlled
with proven strategies. The Safe Communities concept works because it
puts injury prevention into the hands of the people in the community;
those most impacted. The partnering of the community businesses, law enforcement,
health care agencies and providers, schools, employers, advocacy groups,
local government, and others to work towards a common goal is what creates
a coalition. When a community coalition responds to an identified problem
by joining its resources a tremendous amount of work and change can occur.
Prevention is the key to reducing the
injury, disability or death from traumatic events.
Safe Communities Coalitions have been formed in sixteen North Carolina counties and development and expansion
of a Safe Communities Coalition in Orange County was made possible by a grant from the NC Governor's Highway Safety Program to the UNC Health Care Trauma Outreach Program. A Safe Community Coalition works to
reduce the frequency and severity of injuries by using proven strategies.
Collaborative relationships and the creation
of partnerships within the community provide more resources to share the
work and create a sense of ownership and belonging within the community.
A community working together in an organized way can institute major changes
to benefit all the people living and working in the community.
The mission of the Orange County Safe Communities Program
is:
To provide all members of the Orange County,
North Carolina community with information and resources to decrease
injury, disability and death, and the costs to the community that are
associated with injuries.
The objectives of the Orange County Safe
Communities Program are:
- To obtain community commitment for support of the
Safe Communities Program.
- To use existing county-level data for
selection of target populations, identification of most common injuries
and evaluation of outcomes.
- To maintain current injury prevention
programs and to develop new public awareness and injury prevention programs
to target populations based on findings of the data.
- To evaluate
impact and outcomes of local injury prevention programs.
For more information about the Orange County Cafe Communities Program, contact:
We invite anyone who is interested in injury prevention in Orange County, and surrounding counties, to attend one of our coalition meetings. Coalition meetings are usually held on the 3rd Thursday of each month, from 10 AM-12 Noon. Please contact the individuals listed on the Contact Us page to get more information about the Orange County Safe Community Coalition and for the dates, times and locations of upcoming meetings.
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