School Accident Education in Reducing Pediatric Trauma Burden: An Examination of Education for Children Aged 6-12

Children spend approximately 30% to 35% of their daily time in school environments. While educational institutions foster cognitive and social development, they also represent a primary setting for non-fatal mechanical pediatric trauma (Limbos & Peek-Asa, 2003). In the United States, an estimated 8.6 million emergency department visits and over 220,000 hospital admissions occur annually among youth aged 1 to 19 years, with approximately one-fifth of these injuries taking place on school grounds (Zagel et al., 2019). School-related accidents range from minor contusions, abrasions, and lacerations to severe tissue damage, bone fractures, and traumatic brain injuries that necessitate emergency surgical evaluation, operative debridement, or wound repair (Greener, 2016; Terrani et al., 2024). Falls and collisions represent the leading mechanisms of school injuries (77.2%), occurring nearly five times more frequently than intentional injuries (Limbos & Peek-Asa, 2003); falls in particular frequently result in open wounds requiring emergency debridement and suturing (Beranek et al., 2021; Greener, 2016). Overall, school accidents account for 10% to 20% of all pediatric emergency room visits and trauma-related hospitalizations (Stathakis & Berecki-Gisolf, 2020). Upper extremity fractures (specifically distal radius, supracondylar humerus, and clavicle fractures), head trauma, and complex lacerations constitute the majority of surgical consultations and emergency presentations (Terrani et al., 2024). During initial wound assessment, differentiating superficial abrasions from deep lacerations requiring surgical intervention, as well as early identification of occult soft-tissue disruptions and internal hemorrhage, is critical to preoperative pediatric surgical nursing management (Greener, 2016). Analyses from pediatric hospitals indicate an increasing volume of trauma-related emergency visits; however, inpatient admission rates have decreased due to prompt outpatient emergency procedures, rapid orthopedic splinting, and acute wound management (Lee et al., 2022). Pediatric nurses across both community and clinical settings play pivotal roles in the management and prevention of school accidents. School nurses perform immediate on-site medical evaluations and enforce triage protocols, effectively mitigating unnecessary emergency department overcrowding. Concurrently, pediatric surgical nurses are indispensable in pre- and postoperative care, executing neurovascular assessments, suture/wound care, pain management, infection control, and specialized monitoring of fractures that may compromise growth plates (Al-Hajj et al., 2020; Greener, 2016; Terrani et al., 2024).