UK HealthCare

Injury Prevention Experts Offer Live Web Chats

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 4, 2010) – The Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center (KIPRC) has initiated a live chat function on its website as part of its mission to communicate safety information to the public.  An injury prevention specialist will be available Monday through Friday from 10-11 a.m. Eastern Time, for injury prevention inquiries. 

Unintentional injury is a major problem in Kentucky. In Kentucky, if you are between the ages of 1 and 44, you are more likely to die from unintentional injury than any other single cause. From 2001 to 2005, motor vehicle collisions accounted for 3,885 fatalities and 18,099 hospital-related discharges. Unintentional poisonings accounted for 2,138 fatalities and 84,468 hospital-related discharges. Falls accounted for 838 fatalities and 41,217 hospital-related discharges. Intentional injuries also take their toll on Kentuckians. Firearms result in 573 homicides and 211 hospital-related discharges (Kentucky Injury Indicators, 2008).

KIPRC, formed as a partnership between the University of Kentucky College of Public Health, UK and the Kentucky Department for Public Health has a mission of reducing injuries and related death and disabilities in the state of Kentucky. One element of this mission is to educate and perform outreach functions for public health personnel and the general public.  KIPRC initiated the live chat function on its website as a part of that education and outreach function. 

"Having an injury prevention specialist available online to answer concerns about or to provide data on injuries among Kentuckians is one way that KIPRC reaches out to provide injury prevention information to the general public," said Terry L Bunn, director of KIPRC.  "Greater numbers of people are seeking injury prevention information through the Web."

More than 77 percent of the U.S. population accesses information through the Internet, according to the International Telecommunications Union.  Resources, data, and help are available through live chat, by contacting KIPRC at (859) 257-4954 or by going to the KIPRC website (www.kiprc.uky.edu).