CAOT-BC Representing OT: Injury Action Forum 3

October 2012 (Surrey, BC)- CAOT-BC attended the Injury Action Forum 3 (IAF3) representing occupational therapists in BC. IAF3 is the third in a series of Forums for change which brings leaders from across Canadian society to meet and plan on reducing predictable, preventable injuries and deaths, intentional and unintentional, in Canada. Other professionals represented at the meeting included physicians and nurses, first responders and researchers.

The day hosted a number of topic areas and speakers including presentations on Preventable.ca, death injury and smoke alarms, traffic models and the new injury prevention organization, Parachute (amalgamation of 4 groups: Safe Communities Canada, Safe Kids Canada, SMARTRISK and ThinkFirst Canada).

Honorable Shirley Bond, Minister of Justice and Attorney General started the day by announcing that October 10 has been designated "Smoke Alarm Awareness Day" in BC. Did you know that 70% of BC homes do not have a functioning fire alarm? It was reported that 79% of fire related deaths each year in BC are in a home that does not have a functioning fire alarm. It is estimated that in BC alone, 76 lives could be saved each year with a working fire alarm.

Surrey Mayor Diane Watts spoke about Surrey's Smoke Alarm Model where the focus is prevention via a door-to-door campaign that reached out to 40,000 residents!

Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada President and Canadian Medical Association, President-Elect, Dr. Louis Francescutti provided a vision for a model for national injury prevention and his view that 100% of injuries are predictable and preventable.

Go to the website to find out more about the Injury Action Forum.