Department of Public Health Sciences
Division of Social Medicine

Issue 35

Safe Community Monthly News

June 2010

In this issue
NewSafeCommunitydesignation
NewSafeCommunitydesignation
SCinGuinnessRecord
TaiPo,HongKong
Huamu,China

12
2
3
3

BurnPrevention
DrowningPrevention
SafeHospitalNetwork
ForthcomingConferences
MediaAward

44455

DearColleagues,
WeareproudtointroduceyouanothernewSafeCommunities.
WehavereportsfromAustralia,China,NewZealand,USA.
SafeCommunitiesmovementisnowitsfullpace!
Newsandreportsofthisissueareappendedbelow.Sameissueisalsoavail
able at our WHO Collaborating Centre on Community Safety Promotion
website:http://www.phs.ki.se/csp/who_newsletters_en.htm
Withwarmregards
LeifSvanström,ResponsibleEditor
KoustuvDalal,Editor

Wairarapa Region, New ZealandInternational Safe Communities Designation #183
On30thApril,2010WairarapawillbecomethefirstregioninNewZealandtogainInternationalSafeCommunity
accreditation for a whole region, with the three Districts Councils of Masterton, Carterton and South Wairarapa
comingtogethertoworkcollaborativelytowardsmaintainingaSafeCommunity.CollectivelythesethreeTerrito
rialLocalAuthorities(TLAs)bringthenumberofTLAsinNewZealandtoachieveSafeCommunitydesignation
undertheWHOSafeCommunityframework,to12.
TheWairaraparegionhasapopulationof38,600andissituatedinthelowerpartoftheNorthIsland.TheSafer
WairarapacoalitiongrewoutoftheViolenceFreeCampaignthatbeganin2002.TheSaferWairarapaCoalition
Hub is a partnership consisting of 13 organisations.
During the site visits, it was evident that, in Waira
rapa, the safety coalition and working groups hadseen the accreditation process “as an opportunity to
strengthen the well established partnerships and relation
ships”thatalreadyexistedinWairarapa.
Theapplicationablydemonstratedthewiderangeof
injuryandviolencepreventioninitiativesunderway
intheWairarapa,withatotalof83initiativeslisted.
Thesitevisitteamwasimpressed
JohnHayesWairarapaMP;GaryMcPheeMayorCartertonDistrictCouncil;
withthewaythat,aswellasdevelopinglocal
AdrienneStaplesMayorSouthWairarapaDistrictCouncil;KeithMcLeaGeneralMan
programmes,SaferWairarapaleveragedoffna
agerInjuryPreventionACC;HonPansyWongAssociateMinisterACC,;GarryDaniel
tionalprogrammesandthewayinwhichmostMayorMastertonDistrictCouncil.
programmesarealignedtorelevantgovernment
strategies.Aparticularstrengthofthisapplica
tionwasthefocusonreducingviolence,andthelongtermcommit
mentandsustainabilityoftheseprogrammesbetweentheNGOsec
tor,thepolice,andothergovernmentagencies.
Further information can be found by visiting the Safe Communities
FoundationNZwebsitehttp://www.safecommunities.org.nz/sc/wrpa
Reporter:TaniaPeters.
MembersofCoalitionHubattheDesignationceremony@1

Shawnee, Oklahoma—America’s Eighth International Safe Community
OnApril17,2010,Shawnee,OklahomawasdesignatedasanInternationalSafeCommunitybytheWorldHealth
OrganizationCollaboratingCentreonCommunitySafetyPromotion.Thedesignationceremonytookplaceatthe
ShawneeAuditoriumduringtheChildAbusePreventionandFamilySafetyDaygivingtheentirecommunityan
opportunitytocelebratethisachievement.AnafternoonceremonywasheldattheCitizenPotawatomiNation
CulturalHeritageCenterforcityandstatedignitaries.
MayorLindaPeterson,alongwithTinaJohnsonfromthe
PottawatomieCountyHealthDepartmentandKarenLyallfromExxonMobil,chairpersonoftheLocalEmergencyPlanningCommittee,wereonhandtosignthedesignation
agreementwithPaulKellsofSafeCommunitiesCanada,
whowasrepresentingtheWorldHealthOrganizationCollaboratingCentreonCommunitySafetyPromotion
ShawneeisthefirstcityinOklahomatobedesignatedasa
SafeCommunitythroughtheNationalSafetyCouncil’sSafe
CommunitiesProgram.Shawneejoins181othercommuni
tiesin22countriesaroundtheworldwhichhavebeendesig
natedasInternationalSafeCommunities.Shawneeisalso
TheSignatoriesoftheSafeCommunitiesAgreementforShawnee,OklatheeighthInternationalSafeCommunityintheUnited
homa:Fromtheleft:KarenLyall,ExxonMobilandChairpersonoftheStates.Thedesignationisawardedtocommunitiesthathave LEPC,TinaR.Johnson,AdministrativeDirector,PottawatomieCountyHealthDepartment,TeamLeader,PaulKells,SafeCommunitiesCan
demonstratedleadershipinpromotingsafety,
ada,LindaPeterson,MayorofShawnee,Oklahoma
reducinginjuriesandpreparingtheircitizensfornaturalandmanmadedisasters.
Althoughtheapplicationprocesstooknearlyoneyeartocomplete,thehonorandcelebrationmadetheeffort
worthwhile.ThedesignationrecognizesthatShawneehasgainedthecapacityaddressboththefrequencyand
severityifitsinjuriesandtoundertakeinitiativestoensurethesafetyofeachofitscitizens.Trulysomethingtocelebrate!Reporter:RonWaldie,Canada

Kwai Tsing Safe Community in Guinness Record2Disaster Drill in Tai Po, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
LocatedinthenortheastNewTerritoriescoveringanareaofapproximately14,800hectares,TaiPoisoneofthe18
districtsinHongKongSARwiththepopulationof310,879by2006.
Since2005TaiPoDistricthasbeendesignatedasTaiPoSafeCommunitybytheWHOCollaboratingCentreonCommunitySafetyPromotion.InordertomaintainasafeandhealthyenvironmentforTaiPoresidents,itisim
portanttodevelopaneffectivecontingencyplanforhandlingemergencyanddisasterbyintegratingthesupport
ofthelocalhospitalandvariouspublicorganizationswithinthecommunity.
AliceHoMiuLingNethersoleHospital
(AHNH)isalocalcommunityandemergency
hospitalwithinTaiPoDistrict.TheAccident
andEmergencyDepartmentofAHNHisalsoanaccreditedDecontaminationCentrerecog
nizedbytheInternationalTraumaandDisasterInstitute.Inthepastyears,numerousdrill
ingexerciseshadbeenconductedperiodically
withvariousgovernmentdepartments.
On10January2010,AHNHstagedadisasterdrillinconjunctionwithHospitalAuthority
(HA),FireServicesDepartmentAmbulanceCommand(FSDAC)andHongKongPolice(HKP),withtheaimtotesttheoperational
readiness,responsivenessandinter
departmentalcoordinationwithinthecom
munityinresponsetoaChemical,Biological,RadiologicalandNuclearincidentinTaiPoDistrict.ExpertsfromtheUnitedStatesincludingDirectorandInstructorofInternationalTraumaandDisasterInstitute,StaffSpecialistofMassachusettsGeneralHospital,AssociateProfessorofWakeForestUniversityandDeanofWuhanUniversityHOPESchoolofNursing.MembersoftheHongKongOccupationalSafety&HealthCouncilalsoparticipatedtoobservethedrillandtoprovidefeedbackonthebestpracticesofmanagingindustrialdisasters.Theseongoingpreventivemeasureswillbeheldsoasto
maintainthesafecommunityconceptandmomentumwithinTaiPoDistrict.Reporter:ChristianaLee,HongKong.

Eyes on Children’s Walking SafetyOntheafternoonofFebruary4th,2010,theGovernmentofHuamuSubdistrictopenedatrainingprogramforthevolunteersforChildren’sSafeWalkingProjectentitled“HandinHandtoGuaranteeSafeTransportandWorldExpo”,inordertosafeguardchildren’ssafetybothinandoutoftheirschools.Thethemeofthistrainingprogramis“CrossSectionalCooperationandMultitieredParticipation–HandinHandtoCareChildren’sWalking
Safety”.QuiteafewleadingfiguresattendedtheeventincludingMr.GuoCheng,secretaryoftheHuamuSub
districtYouthLeagueWorkingCommitteeandDeputyDirectorofHuamuInternationalSafeCommunityCon
structionOffice;Mr.ZhouWeiguo,children’ssafetyprojectmanagerofHuamuInternationalSafeCommunity.
Attendantsalsoincludedvolunteerrepresentativesfromsuchunitsandorganizationsasfellows:FifthTrafficPoliceBrigadeinPudongNewArea,ShanghaiHuamuRealEstateDevelopment&ManagementCo.Ltd,Decathlon
SportsGoodsCompany(Shanghai),MudanSubCommunity,andHaitongPrimarySchool.ThistrainingprogramwaschairedbyMs.ZhangLi,trafficsafetyprojectmanagerofHuamuInternationalSafeCommunity
Atthemeeting,Mr.GuoChengdeliveredaspeechtomobilizethevolunteersatfirst.Hecalledoneveryattendanttotakehighsocialresponsibility,tobebothactiveparticipantsandsensibledisseminatorsintheprotectionofchil
dren’ssafetyinandoutoftheirschools.Mr.ZhouWeiguothenmadeanintroductoryreportonChildren’sSafe
WalkingProjectinHuamuInternationalSafeCommunity,inwhichheemphasizedtwoaspects:1.Whatarethe
actualtaskstobefulfilledfortheSafeCommunity.2.Whyshouldwefocusonchildren’ssafewalking?

3

Withthereportdone,Mr.WangLei,policeofficerfromtheFifthTrafficPoliceBrigadeinPudongNewArea
andMr.WangJucheng,Directoroftheteachingand
disciplinesectionofHaitongPrimarySchoolmadetheir
speechesrespectively.Theyofferedexplanationsonthe
importanceofchildren’ssafewalkingandvolunteers’
servicefromtheirownpointsofview.Theattendants
benefitedalotfromtheirvividexplanations.
Afterthetrainingsession,thevolunteerrepresentatives
went to Haitong Primary School for an onsite simulation.

Reporter:Ms.ChenFang,Huamu,SafeCommunity,China

Victorian Burns Prevention Partnership (VBPP)The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) Safety Centre, together with representatives
fromthestate’sfireservices(MetropolitanFireBrigadeandCountryFireAuthority)
and the Alfred Hospital and RCH burns units have been meeting to share knowledge,discussissues,andinitiateanddevelopjointprojectstoencourageburnspre
vention.
RecentcollaborativeworksincludeStaySafe–aquarterlynewsletterdevelopedbytheVBPP,whichprovidesvaluablefiresafetyandburnspreventioninformationto
parents,teachers,grandparentsandallthoseresponsibleforthecareofyoungchil
drenagedbetweenzeroandeightyears.
TodownloadacopyofStaySafepleasevisitwww.rch.org.au/safetycentre.
Reporter:BarbaraMinuzzo,Australia.

International Open Water Drowning Prevention Guidelines
Asyouknow,drowninginopenwater,suchaslakes,riversandtheocean,isamajorconcernaroundtheworld.A
dedicatedteamwantedtosharetheconsensusbasedworkofan18memberinternationaltaskforcefrom12countries,asetofguidelinesforfamiliesandindividualsrecreatingatanyopenwatersite.AninternationalTaskForcehascompletedanearly2yearprojecttoproduceasetofconsensusbasedguidelinesonopenwaterdrowningpre
vention.ThesemessagesarewritteninsimpleEnglishforfamiliesandindividualsrecreatingatvariousopenwater
settings.Ourultimategoalistomaketheseguidelineswidelyavailabletofamiliesandindividualsaroundtheworld.
http://www.seattlechildrens.org/classescommunity/communityprograms/drowningprevention/openwaterguidelines/

Reporter:LindaQuan,USA.

Call for International Safe Hospitals Network
Hospitalscanplayavitalroleforinjurypreventionandsafetypromotion.Hospitalsshouldbeactivelyinvolvedin
theSafeCommunityprogram.Therefore,WHOCCCSPhasdevelopedanew‘SafeCommunityHospitalNetwork’
andcallingformemberships.Formembershipandtechnicalsupportspleasecontact
Prof.LeifSvanstrom(leif.svanstrom@ki.se)
orDr.KoustuvDalal(koustuv.dalal@liu.se).
Visit:http://www.phs.ki.se/csp/pdf/indicator/safe_hospitals_criteria.pdf
4Forthcoming Safety and Injury Conferences2010
x 2ndSouthEasternEuropeSafeCommunityConference
1517September,2010
Sibenik,Croatia
Conferencewebpage:
http://www.sigurnezajednice.hr/The_2nd_Southeastern_Europe_Safe_Communities_Conference_SibenikCroatia2010/Home.htmlAbstractdeadline:1May.Venue:HotelSolarishttp://www.solarishotelsresort.com/
Contact:TanjaPekezPalisko,Email:tashamed@gmail.com
x The1stInternationalSafeCommunitiesConferenceforEastandCentralAfrica
ThePotencyofSafeCommunitiesin(EastandCentral)Africa:timeforaction!48October,2010,Kampala,Uganda
Contacts:1..imukasa@pincergroup.org,2.mmutto@pincergroup.org
P.O.Box72455,KampalaUganda.Tel:+256312265106x WorldConferencesforInjuryPreventionandSafetyPromotion
10thWorldConferenceonInjuryPreventionandSafetyPromotion,2124September,2010,London,UK
http://www.safety2010.org.uk
ConferenceProgramme
Contact:KarenHughes:Email:k.e.hughes@ljmu.ac.uk
Tel:+44(0)1512318723,CentreforPublicHealth,LiverpoolJohnMooresUniversity,KingswayHouse,5thFloor,Hatton
Garden,LiverpoolL32AJ,UKTel:+44(0)1512314510|Fax:+44(0)1512314515
2011
InternationalSafeCommunityConference
20thInternationalSafeCommunitiesConference
CelebratingtwodecadesofInternationalSafeCommunityDevelopmentgoingbacktowhereitallstarted69September2011,FalunMunicipality,Dalarna,Sweden
FirstAnnouncement:http://falun.se/www/externa/safe2011.nsf/Vbild/3789B4B81526E69BC1257703004FDF27/$FILE/
safe_community.pdf.Conferencewebpage:www.falun.se/safecom2011
Contact:safecom2011@falun.se
2012
RegionalSafeCommunityConferences
6thAsianRegionalConferenceonSafeCommunitiesin2012
Friday,11Sunday,13,May,2012,Tokyo,Japan
The3rdEuropeanSafeCommunityConference
ThefutureroleoftheFireandRescueServiceinthesustainabilityofSafeCommunitiesinEurope45June2012
Falköping,Sweden
Contact:annette.holmberg@falkoping.se

3rd International Safety Media Awards
HonoringEffectiveInjuryPreventionMediaTheISMAAwardsCelebrationwilltakeplaceatthe
Safety2010ConferenceLondon,UK•September2124,2010
Categoriesries:Print•Audio•Video
LeverageYourSuccessForFutureProjects.ReceiveInternationalRecognitionForYourMedia
ShowcaseYourWorkWithInternationalColleagues.Submissionsnowbeingaccepted.DeadlineforentriesMay7,2010.For
moreinformationgotowww.teachingstory.com/isma.
Email:Marcia@ourreality.org
WHOCollaboratingCentreforCommunitySafetyPromotion
KarolinskaInstitutet
DepartmentofPublicHealthSciencesDivisionofSocialMedicine
Norrbacka2ndFloor,SE17176,Stockholm,Sweden.
Communication:KoustuvDalal,PhD.Editor(Email:koustuv.dalal@liu.se)
5