Q and A

What are the costs related to injury?

The yearly financial costs related to injury in the state of New Mexico are over four billion annually. The emotional costs to families can't be measured.

What is the number one cause of injury death for children and youth 0-24?

New Mexico’s young people are dying in motor vehicle crashes—most of which can be prevented.

What are other leading causes of youth injury and death in New Mexico?

People’s misuse of firearms is one of the leading causes of death. Prevention strategies can keep these deaths from happening.

What is the number one injury impacting our senior populations?

People over 65 are being seriously hurt by falls resulting in death.

Office of Injury Prevention

The Office of Injury Prevention is part of the Injury & Behavioral Epidemiology Bureau and the Epidemiology and Response Division. The Bureau is committed to all aspects of injury prevention including surveillance, analysis of data, reporting, dissemination of reports on injury, and promotion of evidence-based policies and programs.

Injury Prevention Unit

The Injury Prevention Unit focuses on promoting evidence-based prevention strategies and promising practices, coalition building, and offering technical assistance to community members working on injury prevention education and policy.

• Child Injury Prevention: John McPhee
• Youth Injury Prevention: Dominic Cappello
• Adult Injury Prevention: Michael Ruble
• Older Adult Injury Prevention: Frieda Gonzales
• Violence Prevention: Vicki Nakagawa

Injury Epidemiology Unit

Epidemiology is the study of factors affecting the health and illness of a population. It serves as the foundation and logic of interventions made in the interest of public health and injury prevention. Understanding who is being injured informs prevention programming and policy. The Epidemiology Unit gathers information on the “who, when, and where” of injury occurrence. It analyzes data, identifies trends, makes comparisons, and prepares reports.

• Injury Epidemiology Unit Head: position being filled 
• Injury Epidemiologist: Glenda Hubbard
• Injury Epidemiologist: Pallavi Pokhrel
• Firearm Injury Database Manager: Isaac Romero
• Child Fatality Review Coordinator: Paula M. Bauch
• Violence Epidemiologist/NM-VDRS Manager: position being filled

PREVENTION UNIT

Childhood Injury Prevention

Includes the promotion of policies and programs that support the prevention of: motor vehicle injury, non-motorized vehicle injury, pedestrian injury, day care injury, school injury, and sports injury. Prevention Strategies: Development of nonprofit, public agency, school and internet-based curriculum and materials for parents, youth, community educators, health care professionals, home and commercial day care providers, policemen, firemen and home visitation specialists; technical support of state/local coalitions, boards and other organizations involved in childhood injury prevention, including the New Mexico SAFE KIDS Coalition, the NM Helmets for Kids Coalition, and the Off Highway Vehicle Safety Board; sharing of evidence-based prevention programs, research, networking, and funding opportunities for childhood injury prevention programs. Contact: John McPhee, Childhood Injury Prevention Coordinator. 

Youth Injury Prevention

Includes the promotion of programs and policies focusing on the prevention of: motor vehicle injuries, physical assault at schools and in the community, gun violence, suicide, homicide, alcohol-related injuries, and drug-induced poisoning. Prevention Strategies: Development of internet-based resources, databases, and e-courses for youth injury prevention programs; strategic planning for programs working with youth (ages 14-24), parents, community educators, health care professionals, and juvenile justice staff; technical support of state and local coalitions and organizations involved in youth injury prevention; sharing of evidence-based prevention programs and policies, research, networking, and funding opportunities for youth injury prevention programs. Contact: Dominic Cappello, Youth Injury Prevention Coordinator.

Adult Injury Prevention

Includes the promotion of programs and policies focusing on the prevention of: motor vehicle injuries, physical assault at schools and in the community, gun violence, suicide, homicide, alcohol-related injuries, and drug-induced poisoning. This position also supports “core” capacity building and surveillance activities to prevent and control both intentional and unintentional injuries through three primary objectives: build a solid infrastructure for injury prevention and control throughout the state; collect, analyze, use and disseminate injury data; implement and evaluate prevention strategies. Prevention Strategies: adoption and implementation of the New Mexico Injury Prevention Strategic Plan 2008-2012; provide statewide coordination of the NM Injury Prevention Coalition: promote implementation of culturally appropriate best and promising practices for injury prevention; share injury prevention research, training events, and funding opportunities; facilitate networking and collaboration across injury disciplines. Contact: position being filled, Adult Injury Prevention Coordinator

Older Adult Injury Prevention

Includes the promotion of programs and policies that support the prevention of: senior falls, older adult suicide, and older adult abuse. Prevention Strategies: Adoption and implementation of the Falls Free: National Action Plan; providing statewide coordination of the Adult Falls Prevention Coalition; sharing of evidence-based prevention programs, research, networking, and funding opportunities for adult injury prevention programs. Contact: Frieda Gonzales, Older Adult Injury Prevention Coordinator.

Violence Prevention

Includes the promotion of programs and policies focusing on the prevention of: sexual violence, child sexual abuse, intimate partner violence, teen dating violence, bullying, and hazing. The coordinator collaborates with members of the prevention teen focusing on all age groups. Prevention Strategies: Serving as liaison between NM Department of Health and other collaborative teams, including the NM Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs, the Intimate Partner Violence Homicide Review Team, the Violence Against Women Act STOP Grant Implementation Team, the Coordinated Community Response team in Santa Fe, and others to increase collaboration and coordination of Office of Injury Prevention activities with other groups; overseeing the CDC Rape Prevention and Education Cooperative Agreement and State special appropriations; providing technical support to organizations serving educators, parents, youth, people with disabilities, Native Americans, and service providers. Contact: Vicki Nakagawa,Violence Prevention Coordinator.

EPIDEMIOLOGY UNIT

Injury Epidemiology

Data collection, analysis, reporting, and dissemination of reports on injury death and hospitalization data of NM residents by cause of unintentional injuries including: falls, motor vehicle crashes, poisoning, drowning, fire, firearms; by cause of intentional injury including suicides and homicides; and mechanism of intentional injury including firearms, poisoning, etc.  The nature of injury, including traumatic brain injuries and hip fractures from death and hospitalization data, are also analyzed.  Detailed analysis of falls among the older adult population is being conducted. Contact: Glenda Hubbard, Injury Epidemiologist.

Injury Epidemiolgy

Collection and maintenance of the main injury databases of the program, analysis of data, reporting, and dissemination of reports on injury death and hospitalization data of NM residents by cause of unintentional injuries. Development of the electronic interfaces to transfer data elements from source data files into NM-NVDRS (New Mexico Violent Death Reporting System) and CFR database in collaboration with data source agencies. Contact: Pallavi Pokhrel, Injury Epidemiologist

New Mexico Violent Death Reporting System (NM-VDRS)

NM-VDRS is a population-based surveillance system that collects and links data from several different sources including death certificates, autopsy reports, law enforcement reports and crime lab traces on weapons, on all resident and non-resident violence deaths that occur in New Mexico in order to promote evidence-based programs and policies for the prevention of suicide, homicide and firearm-related death. Contact:position being filled, Violence Epidemiologist and NM-VDRS Program Manager.

Emergency Department New Mexico Firearms Injury Surveillance System (ED-NMFISS)

ED-NMFISS collects data on all resident and non-resident gun-related injuries treated in New Mexico hospital emergency departments in order to inform about non-fatal injuries from guns. This information can be used to support evidence based programs and policies for the prevention of gun-related injuries and death. Contact: Isaac Romero, Firearms Injury Data Base Manager.

New Mexico Seatbelt Survey for NM

The annual NM Seatbelt Observation Surveys collect data on seatbelt use statewide in order to promote seatbelt use, preventing motor vehicle injuries and death. Contact: Isaac Romero, Seatbelt Survey Manager.

New Mexico Child Fatality Review (NM-CFR)

NM-CFR brings together multidisciplinary teams of experts from professional and community agencies to systematically evaluate information on child death events and identify risk factors in these deaths.  NM-CFR focuses on systems changes that lead to greater collaborative efforts and improvements in child health and safety.  Cases are groups by the type of death events and reviewed accordingly by the following panels: deaths from accidents other than transportation and including SUID (Sudden Unexpected Infant Deaths--formerly SIDS), child abuse and neglect, homicide, suicide, and transportation. Contact: Paula M. Bauch, NM-CFR Coordinator.

"Motor vehicle crash and firearms are among the top three causes of injury death for adults in all age groups."
Injury Hurts New Mexico, NM Department of Health, 2007

Copyright 2008 New Mexico Department of Health - Injury Prevention