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T Christoffel

Publications and source records attributed to T Christoffel.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Handguns as a pediatric problem. 1986.

Handgun injury is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in American society, particularly for young people. Large numbers of children are affected by handgun violence through the loss of fathers, brothers, and other relatives. Young children are injured and sometimes killed in handgun accidents. Some children and many adolescents are murdered with handguns. Because of their great lethality and very limited ability to provide personal protection, the great burden of handgun injury can best be reduced by making handguns less available. Handgun control cannot reduce rates of crime or interpersonal assault, but it can be expected to reduce the frequency and severity of injury which grows out of these situations, to levels closer to the much lower ones found in other countries. Pediatricians can contribute to this effort, as they have to the efforts to reduce the morbidity and mortality from poisonings and motor vehicle passenger injury.

Age Distribution

Epidemiology and the law: courts and confidence intervals.

Beginning with the swine flu litigation of the early 1980s, epidemiological evidence has played an increasingly prominent role in helping the nation's courts deal with alleged causal connections between plaintiffs' diseases or other harm and exposure to specific noxious agents (such as asbestos, toxic waste, radiation, and pharmaceuticals). Judicial reliance on epidemiology has high-lighted the contrast between the nature of scientific proof and of legal proof. Epidemiologists need to recognize and understand the growing involvement of their profession in complex tort litigation.

Causality

A short course on motor vehicle injury for emergency medicine residents.

Despite growing interest and activity by emergency physicians in injury prevention, we found no reports of any attempts to include injury control concepts in emergency medicine residency training. An existing course for graduate level public health students on motor vehicle injury was modified for emergency medicine residents, presented as a one-day short course, and evaluated. The objective of the course was to provide information regarding the dynamics and prevention of motor vehicle crashes. An equally important second objective was to demonstrate to the residents the need for emergency physicians as part of the injury control research team. The content of the course was based on the conceptual model in which a motor vehicle crash is analyzed in terms of precrash, crash, and post-crash factors. The correlation between the mechanism of injury and the types of injuries experienced was of particular interest. A one-day format was found to be too concentrated. The incorporation of injury prevention concepts and research methods into the grand rounds, journal club, and conferences of the emergency medicine residency is recommended. Educational objectives and practical suggestions for implementation are provided. A comprehensive reading list is available on request.

Accidents, Traffic

The misuse of law as a barrier to injury prevention.

Injury prevention relies heavily on law to require or prohibit particular behaviors (e.g., seatbelt use laws or drunk driving laws) and to establish specific standards (e.g., Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards). But opponents of such laws often make effective use of distortion and misunderstanding of the law to hinder preventive efforts. Injury prevention advocates must be prepared to counter such disinformation. They can do so by (I) focusing on prevention goals, not laws, (2) openly discussing the law, (3) refusing to be defensive in legal arguments, (4) daring opponents to test their assertions in court, and (5) taking the political offensive on issues of legal rights.

Accident Prevention

Nuclear free zones.

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Legislation as Topic

Handguns as a pediatric problem.

Handgun injury is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in American society, particularly among young people. Large numbers of children are affected by handgun violence through the loss of fathers, brothers, and other relatives. Young children are injured, and occasionally killed, in handgun "accidents." Some young children and many adolescents are murdered with handguns. Like infant mortality, handgun violence in the United States is a medical as well as a social problem. Because of the great lethality of handguns and their very limited ability to provide personal protection, handgun injury can best be reduced by making handguns less available. Handgun control cannot reduce rates of crime or interpersonal assault, but it can reduce the frequency and severity of injury arising from these situations toward the much lower levels found in other countries. The involvement of children in the United States handgun injury epidemic warrants effective pediatrician involvement in efforts toward handgun control.

Adolescent