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By Shaun Penner

GP & Area Safe Communities

Raising awareness of preventable injuries the focus of National Injury Prevention Day

Jul 5, 2021 | 12:11 PM

July 5 marks National Injury Prevention Day in Canada, and Grande Prairie and Area Safe Communities is using the day to bring awareness to predictable and preventable injuries.

The day has been marked for the past five years by Parachute Canada, a national injury prevention advocate, as a day to raise awareness about the tragic effects injuries can have on all communities across the country.

“Our goal is to prevent injuries in the community,” said Cindy Blinston, the Executive Director of Grande Prairie and Area Sage Communities.

“Over 75 per cent of injuries are actually predictable and preventable.”

She says those injuries occur when people are taking part in everyday activities.

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“Falls are probably the leading cause of injury across all age groups,” she said, noting there are steps people can take every day to avoid such incidents from happening.

“Things like wearing proper footwear, making sure your shoelaces are tied, making sure in your home that your floors are clear, and you don’t have things to trip on, using the railings when you go up and down the stairs. It’s small things.”

Blinston says in her experience, many injuries happen to people who let their guard down, even if it is just one time.

“That one time where we think we don’t have to, for example, with bikes, the one time we don’t actually buckle our helmet up could be the time where we have a bigger problem,” she said.

“So, it’s just really making sure we take those extra steps to prevent the injuries that could happen.”

Grande Prairie and Area Safe Communities also offers many resources to the community to aid in injury prevention, including education and courses on several safety topics.

Programs include the Home Alone Safety Program for youth aged 8 to 11 to learn about at-home safety when parents are not present, car seat clinics with a trained CPSAC technician, as well as a bicycle safety course at Safety City, which runs each Saturday in July and August from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Blinston adds the organization is also wanting to hear from community members who would be willing to share their personal stories with injuries, as they are hoping to share those experiences with the greater community.

“If anybody has a story about an injury that they’ve maybe experienced that they maybe know could have been prevented in hindsight, or even about a situation where they realized they did prevent something.”

More details on the programs offered year-round by Grande Prairie and Area Safe Communities, or how to get in touch with them, can be found on their website.