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Background objectives To determine the incidence of paediatric scald burns for children under 3 years of age treated in US hospital emergency departments. To quantify injury patterns associated with scald burns to inform prevention recommendation messaging. Methods The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) coding manual was reviewed for cause of injury. Its database was queried to identify cases among patients up to age 3 years old with a diagnosis of scald burns between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2012. The resulting data set was downloaded and case narratives were reviewed to identify injury patterns associated with scald burns. Results The NEISS query identified 2104 scald burn cases between 2009 and 2012, yielding a national estimate of 11 028 scald burns in children younger than 3 years old annually. The analysis of the case narratives resulted in the identification of six precipitating and/or contributing factors including: grabbed/pulled, cooking, bathing, consuming, appliance and other. Conclusions NEISS is a valuable tool to identify scald burn risks. The NEISS data system provided an opportunity to identify and examine scald burns in children under 3 years of age. Interpretation of NEISS results is limited due to the lack of consistency and detail in narratives about the injury event. Nevertheless, the information that was available on precipitating and/ or contributing factors suggests that caretakers should test the temperature of their water heaters, test bath water before bathing children and be made aware of risk of scalds from hot liquids so that they exercise close supervision of children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Fires and burns are a leading cause of unintentional injury death in the USA. Although it has been anecdotally reported that vacant dwellings are at a higher risk for fire, the association between vacancy and fire risk at the individual household level has not been empirically measured. Methods In this cross-sectional study, geocoded residential vacant properties (VP) and fire events are analysed in Baltimore City at the census tract level and the individual household level. Results On average, a 10% increase in the proportion of vacancies in a census tract was associated with a 9.9% increase in fires (95% CI: 5% to 15%). Random-effects Poisson models, controlling for housing and neighbourhood conditions, found contagion effects. The risk of fire in an occupied dwelling increased by 8% (95% CI: 1% to 10%) for every vacant structure within 10 m, and the risk of fire decreased by half (95% CI: 45% to 62%) for every km between an occupied dwelling and vacant building. Close proximity to VP was associated with trash fires within dwellings (p¼0.039) and structure fires (p¼0.012). Conclusions We believe that this is the first study to demonstrate increased risk posed by nearby VP at the household level, confirming earlier ecological analyses of the role of VP as strong correlates of home fires. Measurement of this risk can motivate property owners, policy makers and insurers to invest in risk reduction measures that include building maintenance and trash removal. INSET: Father charged with firearm offence: son shot by brother. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports that the 11th World Conference held on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion in Wellington, New Zealand, on the theme 'Connecting pathways for a vibrant and safer future,' which helped in connecting people to share good ideas and great enthusiasm, also the speakers, were proactive. It is mentioned that National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) were represented at meeting. It is announced that 2013 National Meeting will take place at the Sheraton, Baltimore.

The article discusses how the science and practice of injury prevention continues to produce effective interventions, for example, seat belts reducing the risk of death and injury. Some of the implications for the future of injury and violence prevention research are described. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) provides a framework and process for practitioners, community members and academics to work in partnership to design, conduct and implement research and findings.