No abstract

The authors conducted a study to describe the incidence and types of fall-related head injury observed at a pediatric trauma center. We performed a retrospective analysis of all patients under 15 years of age treated for fall-related trauma between 1992 and 1998. Falls were classified as low (< 15 feet) and high level (≥ 15 feet). Seven hundred twenty-nine cases were identified with a mortality rate of 1.7%. A fall of greater than 15 feet (high-level fall) was associated with a higher mortality rate than low-level falls (2.4% compared with 1.0%, respectively). Ninety-eight patients had sustained a calvarial fracture and 93 experienced a basal skull fracture. Twenty-six patients had suffered a cerebral contusion, 25 a sub-arachnoid hemorrhage, 22 a subdural hematoma, and 12 had an epidural hematoma. Forty-nine patients required surgery for traumatic injuries; of these, 10 underwent craniotomy for evacuation of a blood clot. Height was not predictive of the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score. In all four deaths resulting from a low-level fall there was an admission GCS score of 3, and abnormal findings were demonstrated on computerized tomography scanning. Death from high-level falls was attributable to either intracranial injuries (50%) or severe extracranial injuries (50%). Intracranial injury is the major source of fall-related death in children and, unlike extracranial insults, brain injuries are sustained with equal frequency from low- and high-level falls in this population. The only cause of mortality from low-level falls was intracranial injury. Trauma triage criteria must account for these differences in the pediatric population.

Infant mental health, as concept and intervention, is poorly understood by most practitioners in education settings. Direct-service personnel often lack appropriate knowledge, training, skills, and confidence in recognizing and addressing infant mental health problems. While programs and policymakers increasingly acknowledge the need to offer infant mental health services in order to prevent or mediate poor developmental outcomes among young children, effective methods of realizing an infant mental health initiative remain elusive. This qualitative study of five early education programs examines the use of mentors trained in clinical psychology or social work to support educators in delivering infant mental health services. The perspectives of administrators, direct-service providers, and mentors help us understand what constitutes successful infant mental health mentoring in general, and videotaping in combination with reflective consultation in particular.