IHS Aims to Reduce Vehicular Deaths

The IHS has partnered with tribes and multiple organizations to improve the American Indian/Alaska Native rates of death from unintentional injury.

Federal Practitioner. 2015 May;32(5):e11

May 14, 2015|Federal Practitioner

Injuries—mostly from motor vehicle accidents—are the leading cause of death for American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) aged 1 to 44 years, according to the IHS. And the rates of death from unintentional injury for AI/AN people are about 3 times higher than for those of all U.S. races combined. To bring down these numbers, the IHS has partnered with tribes, the CDC, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to establish an injury prevention program.

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The program is aimed at education, sharing effective strategies, and helping communities implement prevention programs. These programs include the Ride Safe Program, which promotes proper child restraints in vehicles. Among other services, the program trains Tribal Head Start Center staff members in the NHTSA Child Passenger Safety course, conducts home visits to teach parents and other caregivers about proper car seat use, and distributes car seats and booster seats for children at Head Start centers that implement the Ride Safe Program.

For more information about the injury prevention program, visit www.ihs.gov/InjuryPrevention.