Johns Hopkins Children's Center Main Admitting (Room CMSC 131)
Phone: (410) 614-5587
Hours: Mon - Fri, 11a.m. - 4 p.m. Need to purchase a car seat or have yours installed or inspected?
One of our certified child passenger safety technicians can make sure your child's car seat is installed correctly. The installation and inspection service is either $10, or free for families who receive medical assistance, WIC or have other documented needs. We also offer reduced-cost car seats for purchase and infant car seats for a one year loan. Call 410-614-5587 for more information or to schedule an appointment. Please have the following information ready when you call: · Child's height, weight and age
· Brand and model of car seat
· Make, model, and year of car Or Attend a Car Seat Check Event: Click Maryland Kids in Safety Seats (KISS) or Baltimore County Police Department to see a calendar of upcoming car seat checks and to make an appointment.
History of the Johns Hopkins Children's Safety Center
Low-income children under age six suffer injuries at a rate twice the national average, according to a Center study conducted in Baltimore City (Bishai et al., 2002). Lack of access to affordable safety products and information on their use can be significant barriers that families confront. To address this critical need, the Center partnered with the Johns Hopkins Department of Pediatrics to develop the Children's Safety Center (CSC). The CSC opened in 1997 as the first-of-its-kind, hospital-based safety resource center in the United States. Safety experts at the Johns Hopkins Children's Safety Center work with both parents and health care providers every day, answering questions, providing advice, and offering services and safety products in an effort to reduce unintentional injuries, the leading cause of death among children. Located in the Johns Hopkins Children's Center adjacent to the Pediatric Emergency Department, the CSC is a home-like environment where families can try a variety of home safety products, receive free personalized safety education, and purchase low-cost safety products (e.g., smoke alarms and batteries, cabinet locks and latches, stair gates).
A 1999 Center study found that when pediatricians talked to families about the CSC and those families actually visited, more safety practices were observed in the home compared to families who had not visited the CSC (Gielen et al., 2002).
The CSC has continued as a community service project and is open to all Johns Hopkins visitors. Since its inception, it has served more than 10,000 visitors and distributed thousands of safety products.
Replication and Dissemination
The CSC has served as a model for addressing pediatric injury prevention. In response to national and international requests for technical assistance, the CSC team produced The Johns Hopkins Children's Safety Center: A Replication Guide and a promotional video, Prescription for Safety: The Johns Hopkins Children's Safety Center. To order the replication guide click here for our request form and follow the directions for mailing or faxing the form to us.
For more information about the CSC, contact Eileen McDonald at emcdonal@jhsph.edu.
As a nonprofit community service, the CSC needs to solicit support each year to continue its lifesaving services. The CSC receives support from the Center for Injury Research and Policy, and from the Department of Pediatrics. To make a donation to the CSC, please click here.
Citations:
Bishai, D; McCauley, J; Trifiletti, LB; McDonald, EM; Reeb, B; Ashman, R; Gielen, AC. (2002). The burden of injury in preschool children in an urban Medicaid managed care organization. Ambulatory Pediatrics, 2(4): 279-283. Gielen, AC; McDonald, EM; Wilson, MEH; Hwang, WT; Serwint, JR; Andrews, JS; Wang, MC. (2002). Effects of improved access to safety counseling, products, and home visits on parents safety practices. Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine, 156: 33-40. | 
