Preventing Injury and Promoting Sports Safety

Why Focus on Injury Prevention?

Childhood injuries are among the most serious health challenges facing children and teens, but the good news is—they’re preventable! By understanding risks and implementing simple safety measures, we can make a big difference in keeping kids safe and healthy.

Leading Causes of Unintentional Fatal Injuries in the United States (Ages <1-24)

Injuries can happen anywhere, but knowing the most common causes helps us better prepare and protect children at every age. Below is a breakdown of the most common causes of unintentional fatal injury for children and youth in the United States, broken into age groups. This data was produced by the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, CDC, in 2023.    

What We’re Doing to Keep Kids Safe

At Lurie Children’s, our Injury Prevention and Research Center (IPRC) leads efforts to reduce injuries through education, advocacy, and safer environments. We collaborate with national coalitions and local partners to deliver impactful programs and resources, including:

• Buckle Up Program: Promoting child passenger safety. 
• Safe at Home: Reducing risks in home environments. 
• Safe at Play: Encouraging safer sports and recreation.
• Stop the Falls: Preventing window-related injuries. 

As the lead agency for Safe Kids Illinois and Safe Kids Chicago, we partner with healthcare providers, law enforcement, educators, and social service agencies to deliver tailored safety programming, such as:

• Virtual Car Seat Classes and Check-Ups
  • Taught by certified experts, these sessions help caregivers select and install child safety seats correctly. Families with Illinois Medical Cards can also access reduced-cost car seats.
• Safety in a Box
  • A convenient collection of free resources on topics like car safety, fire prevention, and home safety, available for download or borrowing.

Sports Safety at Lurie Children’s

Sports-related injuries also account for nearly 1 in 3 youth injuries. While staying active is vital for physical and mental well-being, injuries like knee damage and concussions can have long-term impacts. Preventing these injuries ensures young athletes stay healthy both on and off the field.

We’re proud to partner with Lurie Children's Institute for Sports Medicine to help young athletes stay active while avoiding serious injuries:

• KIPP for Coaches: A free training program to help coaches reduce the risk of ACL tears and other lower extremity injuries in athletes. Coaches learn how to lead their athletes through a 10-minute knee injury prevention warm-up routine. After completion of the online training course coaches will receive access to our new mobile friendly website! It can be pinned to the home page of your phone for quick and easy use of the warm-up with moving GIFs and quick links to full video tutorials of each exercise as well as it has a complete list of all the exercises with descriptions. Register for the online program
• KIPP for Athletes: A six-week neuromuscular exercise program to help reduce athletes' risk of sports-related knee injuries, especially tears of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACLs).
• Pediatric Concussion Program: Our comprehensive approach supports recovery from concussions while addressing academic and physical activity needs. Free resources like Return to Learn and Comprehensive Concussion Education ensure schools are equipped to help students return safely to learning and sports.