2008 Injury Prevention Symposium a Huge Success!

The Virginia Department of Health, Division of Injury and Violence Prevention and the Virginia Injury Community Planning Group hosted the third Injury Prevention Symposium at the Doubletree Hotel at the Richmond Airport on July 22 and 23, 2008.

The Injury Prevention Symposium was an opportunity for individuals involved in the prevention, first response, treatment or rehabilitation of injuries to become part of the solution to reduce the number of children and adults injured each year in Virginia.  The Symposium provided the following:

• The Unveiling of the five-year Virginia Injury Prevention Plan, addressing the leading causes of injury hospitalization and death in the Commonwealth
• Workshops on national, state and local injury prevention strategies that exemplify best or promising practice
• Recognition of innovative injury prevention projects
• Opportunities to share information and resources

More than 120 professionals and advocates representing the entire spectrum of unintentional injury from prevention to care and treatment attended and participated in the event.

Some of the comments from attendees at the Symposium included:    

• Was wonderful – thanks!
• Excellent event.
• Very professional.
• Well thought out.
• Contained a wealth of relevant information.
• The conference was wonderful – the networking was extremely helpful.
• Speakers were knowledgeable
• Fantastic event!
• Symposium exceeded my expectations!
• Awards luncheon was an excellent event to see plans in action.
• Best conference that I attended in a long time.
• Will be back for the next one!
• Facility was great.
• Informative conference!
• The keynote speaker [Karen Williams, July 22] was amazing.
• Great breakout sessions!
• Excellent meeting; motivated us to work together on unintentional injury prevention.
• The conference was one of the best I have attended and hope you will continue and grow each year.

The following is a partial list of Power Point Presentations that were shared with attendees at the Symposium and that are now available for download. 

Tuesday, July 22

Alcohol, Medications and the Older Adult
Safe Play on the Playground

Wednesday, July 23

Bike Helmet Project
Coaches and Concussions
Cultural Competency and Injury Prevention
Home Safety Literacy
Kids Don’t Float: Delivery of Best Practices through Integration and Partnering
Promoting Fall-Risk Reduction in Older Adults
Reducing the Risk of SIDS in Child Care
Safe Sleep Environments
The Nuts and Bolts of a Train-the-Trainer Program
The State of Home Safety in America
The Scared Straight of Aquatics
Unintentional Injuries Among People with Disabilities

Nine comprehensive and individual innovative unintentional injury prevention projects or programs received recognition at the 2008 Injury Prevention Symposium.  Click here to learn which organizations or projects received awards during the Awards Luncheon on July 23.

For a complete 2008 Symposium Agenda, click here.

To comment on the Virginia Unintentional Injury Prevention Strategic Plan: 2008-2013, click here. Comments are being accepted online until August 31, 2008.

Need more information?  Please contact Leonard Recupero, Community Injury Prevention Coordinator, at (804) 864-7734 or by E-mail at Leonard.recupero@vdh.virginia.gov.