Documenting Injuries & Injury Prevention

Documenting Injuries & Injury Prevention When a child is injured, it is important to document the injury. This documentation is provided to families, typically in the form of an injury or incident report. See Appendix D for an example injury/incident report form. These should document:

 Who was involved in each injury? (child/children; staff, volunteers, family members)

 Where did the injury occur?

 What happened? (What was the cause?)

 What was the severity of each injury?

 When did each injury occur?

 Who – e.g., what staff were present and where were they at the time of each injury?

 What treatment was provided? How was the incident handled by staff?

 How could each injury have been prevented? What will be done in the future to prevent similar injuries?

 Who was notified in the child’s family? When? How?

It is important to keep these reports to analyze them to:

 identify location(s) for high risk of injury.

 pinpoint systems and services that need to be strengthened.

 develop corrective action plans

 incorporate safety and injury prevention into ongoing-monitoring activities.32

Hazard Mapping One such process to do this is hazard mapping, which is an approach to prevent injuries by studying patterns of incidents. Step One – Identify High-Risk Injury Locations

1. Create a map of the classroom, center, or playground area. Label the various places and/or equipment in the location(s) that is being mapped. Make the map as accurate as possible.

2. Place a “dot” or “marker” on the map to indicate where each specific incident and/or injury occurred over the past 3-6 months (or sooner, if concerns arise).

3. Look at the severity of the injuries. 4. Identify where most incidents occur.

Step Two – Identify Systems and Services that Need to be Strengthened

1. Review the information on the injury/incident reports for areas with multiple dots. 2. Consider what policy and practices are contributing to injuries/incidents.

32 Hazard Mapping for Early Care and Education Programs by the National Center on Early Childhood Health and Wellness is in the public domain.