Safe Community Raanana

Country: Israel
Number of residents: 75,000
Program started:1999
International Safe Communities Network Membership: Designation year: 2005

Info address on www for the program is being designed on the web at: www.raanana.muni.il

The program covers the following safety promotion activities:

Playground safety

For the following age group
Children, 0-14 years:
• “The Safe Nursery” - A project making the nursery school a hazard free environment. Identifying hazards and replacing them with safer substitutes, such as, installing fire alarms, closing off hot water faucets and placing doorstops. The Safe Nursery project also includes special training for kindergarten and nursery school teachers.
• Traffic Safety – A traffic simulation program for children has been included in the preschool curricula. In addition, school children participate in additional national and local traffic safety programs.
• Bicycle Helmet Promotion - School children participated in a bicycle helmet promotion where helmets were sold at discounted costs and the children were given incentives to wear them. A new helmet promotion campaign is being developed and will include local pediatricians to help increase helmet awareness among children and their parents.
• Buckle up - A program to promote usage of car restraints and increase proper fitting. A centrally located training center will be available for all residents to go and have the child restraints properly fitted. In addition, buckle-up promotions will take place at other locations, including shopping malls and parks.
• Playground Safety – The goal of this project is to reduce injuries at public playgrounds. Playground equipment at all public playgrounds is regularly checked and if necessary repaired or changed. In addition, playground surfaces are to be replaced with soft, cushioning surfaces.
• Sunburn prevention - To prevent sunburns and reduce sun exposure among children, sun coverings have been installed over benches and over playground equipment at all public playgrounds as well as in all nursery school playgrounds.
• Family Safety Guide – A booklet providing safety hints for injury prevention in the home and in playgrounds, first aid for minor injuries and emergency telephone numbers is being prepared and will be sent to all households in Ra’anana.

Youth, 15-24:
• Traffic Safety – In order to reduce traffic related injuries, traffic safety is taught in the school programs, in addition to special classes for those studying for their drivers license. A program proposing a graduated driver’s license for new drivers is in the planning. This program will also include parent involvement in their child’s driving skills and in receiving the license.
• Sunburn prevention - A program is in the planning to increase awareness of the hazards of sunburns and to provide easy methods of protection.
• A walk-in clinic for youth – This clinic, which is in the planning, will include a multidisciplinary staff to help youth deal with a variety of issues. As part of the clinic, the health workers will intervene to prevent suicide and violence, and promote a non-violent community environment.

Adults, 25-64:
• Family Safety Guide – This booklet will be sent to all households (as described above).
• Safety Promotion - Involvement of parents in injury prevention activities of their children and involvement of adults in the injury prevention activities of their elderly parents.

Elderly, 65+:
• Fall prevention Program – This multi-component intervention program is aimed at preventing falls among the elderly. The elderly participate in several interventions simultaneously. The program includes:
 Lectures to senior groups to increase awareness and improve skills for reducing the risk of falls and to improve fall-prevention behaviors.
 Balance Assessment – A balance assessment is performed by a physical therapist who then recommends participation in exercise classes.
 Exercise classes – Exercise classes to strengthen bone density and to improve balance, as an intervention to reduce falls, are provided for older people in community centers.
 Home Safety – Specially trained volunteers fill a home assessment check list, identifying home hazards and repairing them.
 Home Safety Kit – A safety kit, which includes grab bars for bathrooms and showers, a night light, a flashlight, a non-slip bath mat and other safety devises are provided to the participants of the fall prevention program.
 Vision and hearing screening tests – Specially trained volunteers perform vision and hearing tests to all elderly, and when needed refer to specialists. Follow up checks to see if the recommendations for further tests or treatment are carried out. These screening tests are provided to all elderly in the community.
• Personal Alarm Systems - Promotion of discounted personal alarm system for the frail and infirm elderly living alone.

The program covers safety promotion activities in the following environments:

Home Safety

Volunteers at work



Home safety kit


Home:
Home safety checklist for the elderly, including identifying and repairing home hazards Family safety guide which includes home safety guidelines; Maternal and Child Health Services provide information into key ages through parent education sessions.

Traffic:

Demonstrating how to properly fit a car seat

Traffic safety classes for school children; Traffic safety audits and modifications in the community; Introduction of a specific traffic safety program for nursery school children; Placement of speed bumps in specific areas where needed; Identifying the place and cause of local road accidents, and taking appropriate action to prevent recurrent accidents., Bicycle helmet promotion; In depth investigation of local traffic accidents and their cause.

Occupational:
Workplace Safety Project – Providing health and safety information and performing screening tests in the workplace, is in the planning.

School:
Specific safety programs have been implemented in the preschools and general safety in the elementary and high schools; The ministry of health provides injury prevention programs for school children.

Sports:
There is a skating rink for roller blades, roller skates, scooters, and tricycles at the local park. Bike paths have been placed in some areas of the city.

Leisure:
Coverings have been installed over benches throughout the city and in the local playgrounds, to protect against sun exposure; Hazard reporting; Playground standards ensure safety; elderly programs.

Playgrounds are covered to prevent sun exposure hazards in Israel’s hot and sunny climate.

Programs in the following injury areas:

Suicide prevention:
A new walk-in clinic for youth is being established. This clinic will include a multidisciplinary staff to help youth overcome a range of problems. As part of the clinic, the health workers will intervene to prevent suicide and promote a non-violent environment.

Violence:
Hotline for persons sexually assaulted; A hotline run by the ministry of education for school children, for any problems having occurred in the school, violence or otherwise; Community patrol – local citizens patrol the streets to help fight against violence and terrorism.

Programs aiming at “high risk groups”:
• Preventing falls among the elderly - A multi-facet fall prevention program.
• Preventing traffic accidents (especially among youth)– through road modifications.
• Disabled person access – improved sidewalks and better parking areas for easy access for wheelchairs and disabled persons.

Surveillance of injuries:
The regional hospital registry for emergency room visits and for hospitalizations due to injury is being reviewed annually.

An telephone injury survey was developed and implemented with persons who were admitted to the ER due to injury. The data collected included knowledge of the cause, the place and the characteristics of accidents, as well as identifying high-risk groups for injury.

Data on traffic accidents is received monthly from the police department and from the local traffic and security center. The monthly reports include the place of the accidents, the number of injured persons and comparisons to previous years.

The national trauma registry - The trauma registry collects data on all hospitalizations due to trauma from all level I and 4 level II hospitals. Seriously injured persons are usually hospitalized in one of the 6 level I hospitals. , which are all part of the national trauma registry.

As of September 2001, the regional hospital (level II) has become part of the national trauma registry, where extensive data on hospitalized injured persons is collected into a comprehensive computerized program.

Numbers per year:

Data from the municipal traffic department on road accidents per year

Police Dept: The police department provides monthly reports on traffic accidents occurring in the community.

Publications:
Download the application report:

Raanana, Israel- Application to Become a Member of the Safe Community Network

• Pamphlets are distributed to the elderly providing information on health and safety.

• Family safety guide – a booklet with home and leisure safety information is currently being printed and will be delivered free to all households, as well as being placed in medical clinics, in the day care centers and in the Maternal and Child Care Centers.

• Newsletters were sent to school children on the following topics:
“Sun Smart”; Bicycle helmet promotion; Seat Belt use.

• The characteristics of accidents among Ra’anana residents, is a report summarizing the data collected on injured persons from the emergency room survey.

Staff:
Number: 2
Professions: 1 part-time; 1 volunteer
Organization: Ra’anana City Council

Specific Intersectoral leadership group:
The staff includes the project coordinator from the municipality and a chairman of the Safe Community project (who is also a member of the city council) under the direction of the city mayor. The staff is responsible for approving the projects, coordinating the work on a local level and inspiring those involved to carryout the projects.

General Public health/ health promotion group:
The coordinators of the Safe Communities Project in Israel are from the Israel Center for Injury and Emergency Medicine Research, Tel Hashomer and the Brown School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Hebrew University and Hadassah Hospital, Jerusalem. These two consultative groups are responsible for planning the programs, analyzing the data, evaluating the outcomes and have provided professional consultation since the beginning of the project.

Other Consultative groups include:
Elderly programs - Eshel – a voluntary association for planning and developing services for the elderly in Israel.
Chail – Organization for the elderly
Traffic safety: National Traffic Safety Association
Child Safety: Beterem, The center for child health and safety.
Other: Specialists in different fields have been included in planning and developing intervention programs. They include physicians, physiotherapists and sports specialists.

International commitments:
Participation in the International Injury Prevention Conference which was held in India, 2000. A poster exhibit was displayed at the conference.

Participation in the 11th International Conference on Safe Communities, Canada, May 2002.

Participation in the 6th World conference on Injury Prevention and Control, Montreal Canada, May 2002.

Participation in the 13th International Conference on Safe Communitites, Prague, June 2004.

Participation in the 7th World conference on Injury Prevention and Control, Vienna, June 2004.

For further information contact:


Dr. Zipi Dolfin
Project Head
Raanana Municipality
Ahuza Street
Raanana Israel
Tel: 972-9-7610766
Fax: 972-9-7610764
E-mail: tziporado@clalit.org.il
www.raanana.muni.il

Ms. Sharon Goldman, MPH
E-Mail: sharong@gertner.health.gov.il

Ms. Malka Avitzour, MPH
E-mail: malkaa@gertner.health.gov.il

The Israel Center for Trauma and Emergency Medicine Research
The Gertner Institute, Sheba Medical Center,
Tel Hashomer, Israel, 52621
Tel: 972-3-5303928 (ext. 5)
Fax: 972-3-5353393