From April 4 to April 8, Jessamine County recognizes National Public Health Week by encouraging everyone to work together to make our community safer. This year’s theme, “Safety is No Accident: Live Injury Free,” lends inspiration to the new Jessamine County Health and Safety Coalition. Injuries at play, at work and on our roads are the leading cause of death among Americans ages 1 to 41 and the fifth-leading cause of death overall. During 2009 in Kentucky, the total charges for injury-related hospitalizations and emergency-department visits were over $1.2 billion. In Jessamine County, the total charges for injury-related hospitalizations and emergency-department visits were more than $11 million in 2009. As staggering as these numbers are, they only represent a portion of the total cost injuries represent to individuals, their families, businesses and to our community. These numbers still do not include property damage, doctors’ visits, medication and rehabilitation, lost wages for victims and their families and disability and lost productivity for employers. Furthermore, no dollar amount can reflect the enormous amount of pain and emotional suffering experienced by individuals and families affected by injuries.
Jessamine County Health Department urges residents to work together to make county a safe place
In addition, Kentucky ranks in the bottom 10 in the nation for its tobacco use, obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and adult physical inactivity rates. Moreover, in 2009, Kentucky had the seventh-highest rate of adult obesity in the nation at 29 percent and the fourth-highest of overweight youths (ages 10-17) at 37.1 percent, according to a new report by Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). All of these factors are an obstacle to educational improvement and economic growth and stand in the way of a better quality of life for our community members.
The Jessamine County Health and Safety Coalition can act as a springboard for community members, organizations and businesses to work together toward injury-prevention activities and promoting safe and healthy behaviors in the community. Although many agencies are doing wonderful work in these areas, no single organization can be as effective as collaboration among community organizations and community members. Attendance at the first coalition meeting in March was very encouraging, and we hope that membership will continue to grow. Eventually, the coalition would like to achieve the Safe Communities America designation that is awarded to communities that have demonstrated leadership in promoting safety, reducing injuries, and preparing their citizens for natural and manmade disasters.
If you are interested in attending a Jessamine County Health and Safety Coalition meeting, call Karen Kakar or Andrea Brown at 859-885-4149 or e-mail Kakar at karenc.kakar@ky.gov or Brown at andread.brown@ky.gov.
