Wednesday, February 22, 2006, 2:00-3:15 p.m. ET
The unexpected death of a child is a tragedy and devastating loss for family, friends and the greater community. Despite the heartbreak, a child’s death can bring a small measure of meaning to other children at risk when it is carefully examined to better understand how and why it happened with the intent to prevent future deaths and improve the health and safety of all children. Child Death Review (CDR) is one strategy that many States and localities have adopted to conduct these examinations in a systematic way. These review panels have generated valuable data demonstrating that unexpected deaths of children are predictable, understandable and preventable. In 2002, the Federal Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) funded the National Child Death Review Resource Center to promote, support and enhance child death review methodologies and activities. The Center was also charged with bringing these data together through a national Web-based reporting tool and system, creating an important new tool to aid Title V programs and the broader MCH community in preventing child deaths.
In this DataSpeak program, a senior official from the MCHB will describe the Bureau’s role in CDR, and the Director of the National Center for Child Death Review will provide an overview of the Center and its new standardized Web-based data system. The Manager of the New Mexico Injury Prevention Program also will discuss how the data generated from the system can provide evidence for safety initiatives. Finally, a representative from the Massachusetts Department of Health will highlight how this State coordinates its CDR with its Title V/MCH program and how CDR data are used to prevent child deaths. An opportunity to pose questions to the presenters also will be offered.