Child Injury Prevention Experts learn how to use the SR4S tool at PrevCon 2019

Image credit: Shane O'Connor,Fedex

July 2019: As part of the Safe Kids Worldwide Childhood Injury Prevention Convention (PrevCon) this year (17 – 20 July, Washington D.C.), iRAP’s Julio Urzua facilitated a Star Rating for Schools workshop and field assessment where he demonstrated how the the app can help make school communities safer and help save children’s lives.

Julio also presented the Star Rating For Schools app at the Child Health Initiative partners meeting, discussing directly with child safety experts across the world how we can collaborate to create safer journeys for school children.

As part of the PrevCon, in the parallel session 4 “Pedestrian Safety: Safe School Zones”, we also celebrated the achievements from our Lead Partners including:

Mirjam Sidik from AIP Foundation (pictured right) shared the results of road upgrades in 4 schools out of 37 assessed along a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in Vietnam using the SR4S tool. Schools zones have now been made safer, with pre and post construction SR4S assessments indicating improvement from 1-3 stars to 4-5 stars in road safety. Read more here.

Florencia Lambrosquini (pictured right) from Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez presented their Safe School Environments programme results in Argentina, and how they have used the SR4S tool to assess the safety of school zone improvements in Uruguay and Argentina. See the improvements in Guaymallen here.

Beth Oestreich (pictured right) from Safe Kids North Dakota presented SR4S assessment results around Kindred Elementary School. The assessments have helped to raise awareness of the safety of students’ routes along the roads near the school and to push for road improvements. The assessment shows that parking and traffic management and improvements in crossing facilities can lead to a safety rating increase from 3 to 4 stars.

Safe Kids has been supporting Star Rating for Schools since its early conception in Mexico (2013). As part of the pilot phase of development, Safe Kids Worldwide has been working with 80 coalitions for pilot assessments of SR4S in the United States. The activities have included the provision of training and complementary materials and support for their school assessments across the country.

This event was a fantastic way to reach the community of child injury prevention experts and demonstrate how the collaborations with SR4S lead partners are making the journey for school children safer around the world.

About PrevCon:  The Safe Kids Worldwide Childhood Injury Prevention Convention, or PrevCon, connects child injury prevention professionals and empowers them to make a stronger impact. By bringing together experts and partners in the field, attendees gain practical skills, discover helpful resources and make lasting connections.