Health care workers and other hospital employees may be unnecessarily exposed to airborne infectious diseases. Having an RPP ensures safe and effective use of N-95 respirators and will help prevent avoidable exposure to disease during a pandemic, protecting the health care workforce and patients alike.

In New York City (NYC), as in several other U.S. cities, pediatric occupant restraint laws exempt rear-seated passengers in vehicles-for-hire from those that apply to private vehicles. This study compares rear-seated infant, child, adolescent, and teen passenger restraint use and injury in taxis compared with other passenger vehicles. New York State Department of Health Crash Outcome Data Evaluation System (CODES) was analyzed for rear-seated pediatric passengers aged 0–19 years traveling in taxis ( n = 1,631) or other passenger vehicles ( n = 21,984) involved in a crash in NYC 2011–2013. CODES is a probabilistically linked data set comprising emergency department, hospitalization, and Department of Motor Vehicle crash data. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression odds ratios (OR) are reported with 95% CI. Taxi passenger restraint use was lower than in other passenger vehicles (51.2% vs. 86.7%, p < 0.0001). Use of a child restraint for ages < 8 years was low (5.9%) and one-tenth that of other passenger vehicles. Multivariable adjusted odds of restraint use was 9.80 (8.2–11.7) for other passenger vehicles compared with taxis. Compared with passengers in other vehicles, passengers in taxi crashes were twice as likely to be moderately or severely injured ( p < 0.0001) and twice as likely to have traumatic brain injury ( p = 0.0070). This study documents lower restraint use and higher injury, including traumatic brain injury, for pediatric taxi passengers compared with other passenger vehicles. Improved data systems, surveillance, and enforcement are needed to improve restraint use and reduce injury in children and teens, particularly those in vehicles-for-hire.

Background In New York State (NYS), motor vehicle (MV) injury to child passengers is a leading cause of hospitalization and emergency department (ED) visits in children aged 0–12 years. NYS laws require appropriate child restraints for ages 0–7 years and safety belts for ages 8 and up while traveling in a private passenger vehicle, but do not specify a seating position. Methods Factors associated with injury in front-seated (n = 11,212) compared to rear-seated (n = 93,092) passengers aged 0–12 years were examined by age groups 0–3, 4–7 and 8–12 years using the 2012–2014 NYS Crash Outcome Data Evaluation System (CODES). CODES consists of Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) crash reports linked to ED visits and hospitalizations. The front seat was row 1 and the rear rows 2–3. Vehicle towed from scene and air bag deployed were proxies for crash severity. Injury was dichotomized based on Maximum Abbreviated Injury Severity (MAIS) scores greater than zero. Multivariable logistic regression (odds ratios (OR) with 95% CI) was used to examine factors predictive of injury for the total population and for each age group. Results Front-seated children had more frequent injury than those rear-seated (8.46% vs. 4.92%, p < 0.0001). Children in child restraints experienced fewer medically-treated injuries compared to seat belted or unrestrained children (3.80, 6.50 and 13.62%, p < 0.0001 respectively). A higher proportion of children traveling with an unrestrained vs. restrained driver experienced injury (14.50% vs 5.26%, p < 0.0001). After controlling for crash severity, multivariable adjusted predictors of injury for children aged 0–12 years included riding in the front seat (1.20, 1.10–1.31), being unrestrained vs. child restraint (2.13, 1.73–2.62), being restrained in a seat belt vs. child restraint (1.20, 1.11–1.31), and traveling in a car vs. other vehicle type (1.21, 1.14–1.28). Similarly, protective factors included traveling with a restrained driver (0.61, 0.50–0.75), a driver aged < 25 years (0.91, 0.82–0.99), being an occupant of a later vehicle model year 2005–2008 (0.68, 0.53–0.89) or 2009–2015 (0.55, 0.42–0.71) compared to older model years (1970–1993). Conclusions Compared to front-seated children, rear-seated children and children in age-appropriate restraints had lower adjusted odds of medically-treated injury.