The Review, Vol. 7, Issue 1 (Apr.-June 2009)

April--June 2009 Quarterly Newsletter
Volume 7, Issue 1
"The Review" Office of Child Fatality Review
Annual Child Fatality Review Awards
In March 2008, at the Building Successful Teams annual conference, the Georgia Child Fatality Review Panel honored the Cherokee County CFR Committee, the Richmond County Coroner, Grover Tuten, and GBI Investigator James Harris for their outstanding commitment to child fatality investigation, review and prevention during the 2007 calendar year. In March 2009, CFR Panel members Senator Gloria Butler and Representative Melvin Everson also recognized these individuals with resolutions from both the State Senate and the House of Representatives honoring their commitment and determination in their efforts to promote child safety and reduce preventable deaths in their communities. We applaud their success and encourage their continued efforts to maintain strong case investigation, collaborative reviews, and effective prevention strategies.
It is an honor to be nominated for these awards and accolades, and we applaud every county review committee, coroner, and CFIT investigator for the wonderful work that you do every day. Thank you!

Top Right Photo--Richmond County Coroner Grover Tuten, at 2008 BST Conference
Left Photo-- GBI Investigator James Harris (center), his wife Michelle, and two sons at the Georgia State Capitol (3/3/09)
Right Photo-- Cherokee County CFR Committee with Chair Ashley Snow (center) at the Georgia State Capitol (3/3/09)
Contact Information for OCA-OCFR Staff
The new OCA-OCFR office address is 55 Park Place, Suite 410, Atlanta 30303.
The main office phone number is 404-656-4200, and the fax number is 404-656-5200.
If you need to contact any of the staff directly, please use one of the following numbers:
Eva Pattillo, Director: 404-656-4230 Wende Parker, Program Manager: 404-656-4238 (wrparker@dhr.state.ga.us) Malaika Shakir, Program Manager: 404-656-4239 (mashakir@dhr.state.ga.us) Arleymah Raheem, Prevention Specialist: 404-656-4222 (araheem@dhr.state.ga.us) Rachelle Carnesale, Fatality Investigation Program Director: 770-490-2112 (racarnesale@dhr.state.ga.us)

Inside this issue

COTY Awards

1

CFR Staff Contacts 1

Policies in Georgia

2

Prevention Efforts

2

National Resources 3

Prevention Efforts 3

Upcoming Events

4

CFR Timelines

4

Policies in Georgia: Occupant Safety Guidelines
A regular feature of this newsletter is to inform you of policies and regulations around certain products and activities that may affect you and the work that you do with children and families. In order to bring you the most up-to-date information on rules, requirements, and policies enacted to keep kids safe from injury and death, we will be researching a different topic in each issue. If you would like to contribute to this article series at any time, please contact OCFR staff.
Currently, Georgia Code Section 40-8-76 states every driver who transports a child under six years of age in a passenger automobile, van, or pickup truck, other than a taxicab or a public transit vehicle shall properly restrain that child in the rear seat while the vehicle is in motion and operated on a public road, street, or highway. If the vehicle has no rear seating position appropriate for correctly restraining a child or all appropriate rear seating positions are occupied by other children, then a child may be properly restrained in a front seat. Children under age six are also required to be in a child safety seat or booster seat appropriate for their height and weight and used according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Each minor child six years of age or older (up to age 18) who is an occupant of a passenger vehicle being operated on a public road, street, or highway, shall be restrained by an approved seat safety belt. In any case where a minor
passenger six years of age or older fails to comply with these requirements, the driver of the passenger vehicle shall be guilty of the offense of `failure to secure a seat safety belt on a minor' and, upon conviction thereof, may be fined not more than $25.00.
The term "passenger vehicle" means every motor vehicle designed to carry ten passengers or less and is used for the transportation of persons, including any sport utility vehicle and pickup trucks for any occupant who is under 18 years of age, but shall not mean pickup trucks (for adults over age 18), motorcycles, or vehicles equipped for off-road use (like ATVs or 4-wheelers).
For more information on how to properly restrain children in vehicles, please visit www.ridesafegeorgia.org or www.safekids.org.
County Prevention Efforts in 2008 ...submitted by Ashley Snow (Committee Chair)
The Cherokee County Child Fatality Review Committee awarded its first HERO Awards on December 2, 2008 to Steve Wheeler and Jackie Dault. The HERO Award recognizes citizens who help to save the life of a child in Cherokee County. On March 17, 2008, fiveyear-old Nathan Harston fell into a sewage pipe at the YMCA. Upon being told of the situation, Steve Wheeler ran to the location and jumped into the sewage pipe. Nathan had floated up into another pipe that connected horizontally to the pipe where he first fell. Steve was able to feel around and locate Nathan and lift him out of the pipe. Once on the ground, Jackie Dault began to perform CPR until the paramedics arrived. Nathan had taken a lot of sewage water into his body and was unresponsive. If it was not for the quick efforts of Steve and Jackie, the
committee would have had to review another fatality.
Nathan had to spend many weeks in the hospital to fight off the infection caused by the sewage water. At the December 2nd award presentation, Nathan and his family were present to thank Steve, Jackie, and the entire emergency response personnel. The Cherokee CFR Committee also recognized the emergency personnel with a HERO award certificate.
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National Resources and Training for Child Death Review
The National Center for Child Death Review has several archived webcasts and training presentations for you to review at your convenience. These webcast trainings cover variety of material from investigation to reporting to prevention development. The PowerPoint slides of these presentations can be viewed and saved for free on your computer. Visit www.childdeathreview.org for more information and resources.
February 4, 2009: Let's Make it Easy- While Getting the Most from Your Hard Work on Child Death Review Reporting. Archive of presentation at www.mchcom.com.
August 20, 2007: Child Death Review Findings: A Road Map for MCH Injury and Violence Prevention; Part I in partnership with Children's Safety Network
December 14, 2006: Preventing Child and Adolescent Deaths: Resources and Partnerships
September 13, 2006: Taking Action to Keep Kids Alive: Connecting to National Resources
May 16, 2006: Improving the Investigation of Sudden and Unexplained Infant Deaths
February 22, 2006: Child Death Review: Using Data to Understand Why Children Die and Taking Action to Prevent Child Deaths
2005 National Injury Prevention and Control Conference, How Mortality Reviews Impact Injury Prevention and Control
County Prevention Efforts in 2008 ...submitted by Kimberly Oatman, RN
The Richmond County CFR Committee implemented several prevention efforts in 2008. First, they designed a T-shirt that reads "Ask Me About Bed Sharing" on the front, and wear it for all committee activities. They also work with their WIC and DFCS offices to share the safe sleep environment message. Posters and literature are placed in the DFCS office lobby and at the WIC office area within the health department. Also, safe sleep teachings have been added for all new babies. When time allows, the CFR members go back to WIC to speak with the new moms to let them know about SIDS prevention. There are posters and brochures available for each family.
Because the county had so many asthma-related deaths over the last couple of years, an Asthma Coalition has been formed, and the committee has representation on the coalition. Members include the board of education, public health, Medical College of Georgia, private physicians, American Lung Association, and others. There have been two events held so far -- Bash Asthma and the Asthma Blitz. The CFR Committee participated in each with an information booth.
In addition, the committee has developed a local CFR newsletter, with topics on poison prevention, drowning, gunshot injuries, and more. One of the committee members helped to develop a "Dads in Schools" program because they have found that the involvement of fathers in the home and school environment can help to prevent some of the injuries that happen to kids. This organization has had events at local schools, and the CFR committee has been to those events.
The committee made a commitment to get involved anytime there was an event that involved children's issues. They have done about one activity each month and are doing a great job getting the word out into the community about prevention.

Together Everyone Achieves More

Please submit your stories of success or other ideas by June 13, 2009 to: OCA- Office of Child Fatality Review 55 Park Place - Suite 410 Atlanta, Georgia 30303
www.gacfr.dhr.georgia.gov
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Upcoming Events

The Building Successful Teams Conference will not be June 2009: National Home Safety Month, sponsored by

held this year, due to budget issues.

the Home Safety Council. For more information on events

April 26-May 3, 2009: National SAFE KIDS Week. Visit www.safekids.org for information on events in your area.

in your area, please visit www.homesafetycouncil.org/ homesafetymonth.

June 17-20, 2009: The 17th Annual Colloquium for the

May 2009: National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month, American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children

sponsored by Advocates for Youth. For more information on (APSAC) will be held at the Omni in the CNN Center in

events in your area, please visit their website at

Atlanta. For more information, please visit www.apsac.org

www.advocatesforyouth.org.

or call 877-402-7722.

May 6-12, 2009: National Mental Health Counseling Week, July 20-24, 2009: National Youth Sports Week, spon-

sponsored by the American Mental Health Counselors Asso- sored by the National Recreation and Park Association.

ciation . Visit www.amhca.org for more information on For more information on events in your area, visit their

sponsoring events in your area.

website at www.nrpa.org.

Due Dates and Timelines
The new OCA-OCFR address is 55 Park Place, Suite 410, Atlanta 30303. The direct office phone number is (404) 656-4200 and the fax number is (404) 656-5200.

All county fatality review reports for child deaths that occurred in 2008 should be submitted as soon as possible using our online reporting form. This can be found on our website at www.gacfr.dhr.georgia.gov. If you have any problems using the CFR online reporting system or if you need more information to complete your committee reviews, please contact your Program Manager (Wende Parker at 404-656-4238 or Malaika Shakir at 404-656-4239).

All 2009 child deaths will be reported using a new online form; they should not be submitted using the current CFR online reporting form. The new web-based form was developed by the National Center for Child Death Review, and is currently used by more than 25 states. The new reporting form is very user-friendly and has more features that can allow you to save information at any time and exit the system, and to access and analyze your county death data immediately after you submit a case into the system (in real time). Information and training on the new form will be delivered to county committees during 2009. The new reporting form is available on our website for you to view and print at any time.

CFR Coroner of the Year and County Committee of the Year awards will be announced in April 2009! If your county coroner or committee was nominated, YOU could be awarded with a trophy and a recognition from the Georgia Legislature.

There are several state and local funding opportunities now available for local agencies and CFR committees to implement or expand existing prevention projects. Check out our website and click on "FUNDING" to find an available grant that best fits your needs. Be sure to read the requirements carefully and note the due date for submitting your proposal. If you need assistance with developing a prevention idea or proposal, please call the CFR Prevention Specialist Arleymah Raheem at 404-656-4222.

OCA-OCFR is soliciting requests for revisions to the current State Model Child Abuse Protocol. If you would like to provide ideas or suggestions to the re-write process, please contact Wende Parker at wrparker@dhr.state.ga.us.

Office of Child Fatality Review 55 Park Place - Suite 410 Atlanta Georgia, 30303
Website: www.gacfr.dhr.georgia.gov