 | Ottawa, Sudbury training spaces open
A few spaces remain open in Ottawa and Sudbury for Ontario public health workers who wish to take the Canadian Injury Prevention and Control Curriculum. This 2.5-day workshop offers one-of-a-kind injury prevention training and is the only such program offered in Canada.
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 | Learning Series highlights resiliency
The SMARTRISK Learning Series’ Nov. 21 session offers an overview of the theory and meaning of resiliency and a better understanding of its implications for nurturing healthier lifestyles in children and youth. Dr. Wayne Hammond will help practitioners view high-risk children and their families as “having potential,” not just being “at risk”.
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 | Design fun rides to be safe rides
A researcher who studied behaviour at Ontario amusement park rides notes that serious ride injuries are rare. But to make them even less common, ride design should be altered to make unsafe rider behaviour seem undesirable or impossible, she suggests. Relying on riders to follow posted rules, or on operators to enforce them, isn’t enough.
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 | Ladder fall injuries peak in November
Thousands of Ontarians each year end up in the emergency department after falling from ladders. November is the peak month with an average 30 visits a day, says a new report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information. Adults in their 40s and 50s are most at risk for ladder falls.
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 | Winter walking tips for seniors offered
This is National Seniors’ Safety Week and the theme is safety tips for winter walking, notes the Canadian Health Network in its Health Events Highlights. While walking is one of the best ways for seniors to keep fit, winter ice and snow can make walking a challenge.
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 | Laws changing to prevent injury
Nova Scotia and Ontario are tightening their traffic laws, in an effort to reduce injuries. Ontario has closed a loophole in seatbelt legislation that allowed more passengers than seatbelts in a car. Nova Scotia has launched an advertising campaign promoting its new booster seat law, which takes effect Jan. 1, 2007.
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 | Football, rugby hospitalize 160
Each year in Ontario, more than 4,700 people visit an emergency department with a football or rugby injury and more than 160 are hospitalized. Injuries are most frequent among young males. Learn more about football and rugby injuries in the October issue of SMARTRISK’s Ontario Injury Compass.
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 | Heads Up! – Fall 2006
The Fall 2006 edition of SMARTRISK’s national newsletter, Heads Up!, highlights research from the newly released Economic Burden of Injury in Ontario, information on ordering SNOWSMART, tips to manage the risks of burns and recent research in the field of injury prevention.
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 | Youth journal features SMARTRISK Heroes
An introduction to the SMARTRISK Heroes program has been published in the Journal of Youth Development. The article notes that SMARTRISK Heroes is helping students to understand that it's up to them – not their parents or their friends – to prevent themselves from being injured.
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 | ONF launches 2 new funding initiatives
The Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation this week launched two open funding initiatives. One is for an Ontario rehabilitation-based researcher to recruit a Quebec graduate student for a neurotrauma project for summer 2007. A second is a call for letters of intent on “Traumatic brain injury in children and youth: the complexities of co-morbidities”.
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 | Prevent injury during physical activity
Physical activity is a great way for children and adults to feel good and stay healthy. But it’s also a common source of injury. Here are some simple tips to help you to prevent injuries during physical activity, courtesy of the Canadian Health Network.
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 | New injury survivor tours with Heroes
SMARTRISK Heroes’ newest injury survivor presenter, Sean Fowler, began touring Ontario this month and will be travelling west with the show over the next weeks. Sean lost his left arm and leg after jumping between the cars of a slow-moving train. As he is just 18, high-school students are finding it easy to relate to Sean’s story.
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 | Help for schools in preparing for emergency
It’s National School Safety Week and the theme is Emergency Preparedness, notes the Canadian Health Network in its Health Events Highlights. Schools are urged to have effective emergency plans in place and to review them annually. They can learn to identify hazards, assess risks and prevent and mitigate disaster.
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 | Poor kids twice as likely to die of injury
Although the rate of injury-related deaths in childhood has plunged in recent decades, injury is still the leading cause of death among Canadian children. The October issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal explores childhood injury, including the influence of socio-economic status and hazards in the home.
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