About The Injury Surveillance Program
In Alaska, injury is the third leading cause of death overall and the leading cause of death among persons aged less than 45 years. The Injury Surveillance Program has adopted the Safe States Alliance (SSA, formerly STIPA) model for statewide injury surveillance. This model consists of the following core components:
- Data collection and analysis: Alaska's injury data include all injury deaths and hospital admissions. All injury prevention efforts begin by looking at the numbers — what injuries are occurring, when, where, how, why, and to whom. Injury prevention programs usually employ a combination of these methods to maximize public acceptance and successful implementation. Funding for Alaska's injury surveillance programs is almost exclusively through federal grants that target injury prevention.
- Coordination and Collaboration: Partnerships with key agencies avoid duplicity and inconsistency. Primary partners include the State Departments of Public Safety, Labor & Workforce Development, Transportation & Public Facilities; and the Highway Safety Office; the Alaska Injury Prevention Center; the Boating Safety Office; Alaska Safe Kids; the Alaska Marine Safety Education Association; the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, Occupational Safety & Health Administration; State Fire Marshal's Office; Denali Safety Council; and the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium and Native Health Corporation Injury Prevention Programs.
- Technical Support and Training: Maintaining a trained and knowledgeable injury prevention workforce is key to developing and implementing effective programs. This workforce begins with the injury prevention specialists and extends to all health care providers in the state who seek to improve the health and life expectancy of their clients.
- Public Policy: Injury surveillance data can influence public policy by providing scientific information to policy makers and constituents who wish to be involved in the policy-making process. This information may include risk factor data for specific target groups, examples of policy interventions that have been shown to reduce the risk of injury, or even model legislation.
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