September 2014 – AIPN E-Bulletin
Message from the President
As 2014 fast rushes by, and we are already starting to see Christmas goodies in
the shops, it is a great time to announce the next Australasian Conference on
Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion will be held in Sydney, in November
2015.
The draw card event of the AIPN, this conference is our opportunity to showcase
the research, practice and policy work of our members, as well as the wider
injury prevention community.
Focusing on “Injury in Vulnerable Populations”, next year’s conference will
feature a focus on children and families, falls in older populations and injury
within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities as well as more
general injury topics including road safety, water safety, burns prevention and
sports injury.
Current financial AIPN members will save on registration fees, and all conference
registrations are inclusive of pre-conference workshops, conference sessions,
catering and social functions.
More information about next year’s event will be released towards the end of
November, coinciding with the AIPN’s hosting of it’s Injury Prevention in
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People: Prevention Across the Lifespan
Symposium (more details below).
Associate Professor Kerriane Watt
President, AIPN
Injury Prevention in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People:
Prevention Across the Lifespan Symposium
The AIPN is pleased to announce it's second symposium focussing on injury
prevention within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. This year's
symposium will highlight achievements in research, policy and practice for
Injury Prevention across the lifespan for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
People in Australia.
Download the Flyer [PDF, 1.53MB] Download the Registration Form [PDF,
107KB]
Abstracts are welcome for presentations up to 15 minutes. We welcome
presentations on program implementation, research or policy. Please email your
200 word abstract with authors, affiliations and contact details to the
symposium organisers at secretariat@aipn.com.au by 22 September 2014.
We look forward to seeing you in Sydney in late November!
AIPN Annual General Meeting
Importance of Smoke Alarms Acknowledged During Recent Coronial
Inquest
With recent media coverage of the coronial inquest into Australia’s most
devastating house fire over the last couple of months, it is a timely reminder
about the importance of smoke alarms.
During the recent inquest, Queensland Fire and Rescue’s (QFRS) Inspector
Bernard Nunn, the chief investigator for the QFRS at the time, told the inquest
that if smoke alarms at the home had been working, there would have been time
to evacuate.
According to information provided by the QFRS, without a working smoke alarm
in your home, your risk of death from a house fire is up to 3 times higher. In
Queensland, about three-quarters of all home fire deaths happen in homes
without smoke alarms — nearly half of all house fire deaths occur when people
are sleeping.
The QFRS also recommend installing photoelectric smoke alarms (not ionisation
types). Photoelectric smoke alarms are generally more effective than ionisation
types because they 'see' the smoke by detecting visible particles of combustion.
For this reason they are good at detecting smouldering fires and dense smoke,
and are not as prone to false alarms (from cooking etc.).
There are two kinds of photoelectric smoke alarms:
• 240-volt smoke alarms (also called 'hard-wired smoke alarms'). These are
connected to the house electrical system and have a battery back-up
power supply
• 9-volt smoke alarms (also called 'battery-operated smoke alarms') are
stand-alone battery operated alarms.
When choosing a smoke alarm, make sure it:
• complies with the Australian Standard AS 3786-1993
• has the Standards Australia Mark or is Scientific Services Laboratory
(SSL) certified.
For more information on installing and checking smoke alarms, visit
https://www.qld.gov.au/emergency/safety/smoke-alarms.html.
Bad Behaviour more Frustrating than Bad Driving
Rude and inconsiderate drivers who break 'driving etiquette' rules appear more
likely to anger and frustrate other drivers, than those who act dangerously on
the road.
The results from a CARRS-Q study, which investigated the thought processes
involved in driver aggression, were presented at an international psychology
conference in Paris recently.
CARRS-Q Postgraduate Scholar Lauren Shaw said the study recorded the driving
experiences of 209 Queensland drivers for one week, and found violating
'driving etiquette' was most likely to result in reports of anger and frustration.
"As part of the study, drivers were asked to record the negative events they
experienced while driving, and what they thought about other drivers and how
that made them feel," she said.
"The results surprisingly showed that rude and inconsiderate behaviour on the
road was more likely to evoke feelings of anger and frustration than those who
drove dangerously."
Ms Shaw said when drivers failed to behave politely on the roads or showed
poor driver etiquette, people responded in two ways.
"There were those who responded with aggressive behaviour and those who
didn't respond at all, despite feeling angry," she said.
"Those who do take aggressive-type action such as beeping the horn or raising
the finger felt their behaviour was justified, to teach a lesson to someone who
violated driving etiquette.
"Drivers who reported responding with behaviors like honking their horn
expressed that they wanted their actions to communicate to another driver that
their behaviour was rude and they should think about others.
"We also found that there were a number of drivers who, despite reporting they
felt quite angered by poor driving etiquette, didn't respond at all because they
felt a level of superiority over the other driver.
"They refrained from an aggressive response because they felt behaving
aggressively would lower themselves to the level of someone that they thought
was rude."
Ms Shaw said understanding the triggers of driver aggression was important to
be able to develop strategies to reduce driver anger on the roads. Her next study
will look at the psychological processes involved in aggressive driving.
"We want to look more closely at drivers' beliefs, thoughts and perceptions in
response to common driving situations," she said.
The study is an online survey, takes about 40 minutes to complete and is open to
Queensland drivers over 18. Those who complete the study will receive a $20
Coles/Myer voucher.
To register to participate, follow the link here Those who register will be given
email access to the survey.
Drink walkers urged by mates
Friends may be the key to stopping their mates drink walking, a risky behaviour
that kills on average two Australians every week, a CARRS-Q study has found.
CARRS-Q Post Doctoral Research Fellow Dr Ioni Lewis, said in a survey of young
people aged 17 to 25, friends were the strongest influence on their intentions to
drink walk.
"Drink walking, or walking while intoxicated in a public place, is linked to
increased risk of injury and fatality," Dr Lewis said.
In a survey published in the Journal of Transportation Research: Part F, more
than 50% of participants said they had walked while intoxicated in the previous
six months together with evidence that some young people intended to drink
walk in the future.
"The study found that the risks associated with drink walking were seen to be
less dangerous than drink driving, however, research shows that in Australia on
average 100 alcohol-affected pedestrians are killed each year," Dr Lewis said.
"That equates to more than 5% of all road crash fatalities."
Dr Lewis said the study looked at friends, parents and peers and found friends
could significantly influence a young person's decision to drink walk.
"Drink walking may occur, for instance, when young people start drinking at
home before heading out to pubs or clubs, or when they're walking between
licensed venues," she said.
"We now know that when young people who perceive their friends approve of
drink walking and believe their friends engage in drink walking, that these young
people are more likely to drink walk in the next six months."
She said the study also identified young males as being most at risk, because they
considered drink walking to be a low-risk activity.
"If we can turn around the perception of young people that drink walking is not a
low-risk activity and it is dangerous, then we may be able to reduce the injuries
and fatalities."
Dr Lewis said the next step, which was currently under way in another study,
was to design and test safety messages aimed at discouraging drink walking
among young people.
For further information on the original study, click here.
What Type of Injury do you Prevent?
The AIPN has a wide and varied membership base, and we are keen to hear form
you all about the area of injury prevention research, policy or practice that your
work in. We are also interested to hear about what stage in your injury career
you are at – are you a student, early or mid career researcher, a senior policy
developer or practitioner?
To demonstrate the variety of backgrounds, work areas and positions covered by
our members, the AIPN Executive are asking each of our members, and readers
of this e-bulletin to provide a simply one word answer to the following
questions:
1. What are of injury prevention do you work in? (e.g. road safety, burns
prevention, falls, sports injury)
2. Do you work in research, policy or practice?
3. How would you describe your career position? Student, early career
researcher, mid career researcher, mid-career policy, senior-policy or
practitioner.
To respond, simply email the AIPN Secretariat with your responses, and the will
compile the responses into a word cloud graphic we can use to demonstrate the
demographic of our members and supporters.
First WHO report on suicide prevention
More than 800 000 people die by suicide every year – around one person every
40 seconds, according to WHO's first global report on suicide prevention,
published recently. Some 75% of suicides occur in low- and middle-income
countries.
Pesticide poisoning, hanging and firearms are among the most common methods
of suicide globally. Evidence from Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the
United States and a number of European countries reveals that limiting access to
these means can help prevent people dying by suicide. Another key to reducing
deaths by suicide is a commitment by national governments to the establishment
and implementation of a coordinated plan of action. Currently, only 28 countries
are known to have national suicide prevention strategies.
Suicide occurs all over the world and can take place at almost any age. Globally,
suicide rates are highest in people aged 70 years and over. In some countries,
however, the highest rates are found among the young. Notably, suicide is the
second leading cause of death in 15-29 year-olds globally.
“This report is a call for action to address a large public health problem which
has been shrouded in taboo for far too long” said Dr Margaret Chan, DirectorGeneral of WHO.
Generally, more men die by suicide than women. In richer countries, three times
as many men die by suicide than women. Men aged 50 years and over are
particularly vulnerable.
In low- and middle-income countries, young adults and elderly women have
higher rates of suicide than their counterparts in high-income countries. Women
over 70 years old are more than twice as likely to die by suicide than women
aged 15-29 years.
Reducing access to means of suicide is one way to reduce deaths. Other effective
measures include responsible reporting of suicide in the media, such as avoiding
language that sensationalizes suicide and avoiding explicit description of
methods used, and early identification and management of mental and substance
use disorders in communities and by health workers in particular.
Follow-up care by health workers through regular contact, including by phone or
home visits, for people who have attempted suicide, together with provision of
community support, are essential, because people who have already attempted
suicide are at the greatest risk of trying again.
“No matter where a country currently stands in suicide prevention”, said Dr
Alexandra Fleischmann, Scientist in the Department of Mental Health and
Substance Abuse at WHO, “effective measures can be taken, even just starting at
local level and on a small-scale”.
WHO recommends countries involve a range of government departments in
developing a comprehensive coordinated response. High-level commitment is
needed not just within the health sector, but also within education, employment,
social welfare and judicial departments.
“This report, the first WHO publication of its kind, presents a comprehensive
overview of suicide, suicide attempts and successful suicide prevention efforts
worldwide. We know what works. Now is the time to act,” said Dr Shekhar
Saxena, Director of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse at
WHO.
The report’s launch came just a week before World Suicide Prevention Day,
observed on 10 September every year. The Day provides an opportunity for joint
action to raise awareness about suicide and suicide prevention around the
world.
*This article was first published by the WHO on 4 September 2014
New PhD Completion Shines Light on Product Related Injuries in
Queensland
With a focus on utilizing injury data to support product safety initiatives, Jesani
Limbong, through her PhD, aimed to improve product safety information
through the analysis of existing injury data and assessment of its contribution to
product safety initiatives. This focus was to address the need to understand
product-related injuries, so as to provide evidence-based research to effectively
address product safety issues.
Injury surveillance data and hospital admission data was obtained and analysed
to identify and quantify product-related injuries based on the three criteria of
product safety prioritisation: frequency, severity and causality.
Ms Limbong’s research found that overall, product-related injuries accounted for
approximately 35% of all paediatric injuries recorded in both injury datasets
(surveillance data and hospital admissions data), and current results from the
frequency, severity and causality analyses suggested product related burns
should be the injury first focused upon.
Ms Limbong’s supervisor for this research, Associate Professor Kirsten Vallmuur
said that this research project provides a way of interrogating health data to
identify trends and patterns in product-related injuries that hasn’t been
previously available. “These patterns can be used to inform product safety
prioritization, as well as provide input into the development of health
classifications to improve the ability to classify product-related injuries in
routine data collections” added Associate Professor Vallmuur.
For further information on this research, and the results, please contact Jesani
Limbong direct on jesani.mitsukolimbong@qut.edu.au.