March 26, 2026 • 10 mins
The Comprehensive Children's Injury Center is a part of Cincinnati Children's Hospital. Their dedicated team work daily to educate adults about how to prevent injuries, and treat kids who need their expertise. Guest is Stephanie Lyons, Program Manager of CCIC.
Cincy Children's Hospital - Comprehensive Children's Injury Center
513-636-7865, Option 1
email: ccic_department@cchmc.org
3333 Burnet Ave.
Cincinnati, OH 45229
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is iHeart Cincy. I'm Sandy Collins. I've got another
great Cincinnatian to introduce you to. This is Stephanie Lyons.
She's the program manager at Cincinnati Children's of the Comprehensive
Children's Injury Center. She's a child passenger Safety Technician instructor,
and she specializes in the safe transport of children with
special health care needs. She's here to talk today about
(00:22):
the Comprehensive Children's Injury Center and how they help parents
navigate the dangers of childhood.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
We caught up earlier this week. How are you today,
I'm good.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
You know, Stephanie, getting hurt as a kid feels like
a rite of passage. You know, we used to break
our arms riding bikes or running through glass doors, and
then you hold up these scarred body parts as an
adult and you have a story to tell. It's always
kind of funny, but in reality, nobody wants that to happen,
and it can be very serious. And that's why we're
(00:57):
here today because that's what you do. You're working towards
preventing injuries for children. So I want to find out
more about that program and how that works at Children's
Medical Center.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Absolutely, so again, thank you so much for having me
on today. So one thing that my team does is
we work to reduce unintentional injuries that happen in the community.
Our goal is to not have kids get hurt so
that they don't have to come see us in the
emergency rooms. Injuries can be prevented. A lot of people
(01:30):
aren't familiar with that, so there are simple steps that
you can take, whether your kid is younger to teenage
range and up, to keep them safe at the home,
when they're at play, and when they're on the.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Go in the vehicle.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
So those are some of the things that our program
focuses on in reducing those injuries so that we don't
see injured kids in our emergency rooms.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Stephanie, is there one type of injury that like clearly
is the most common.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
So the most common injury in the United States right
now amongst youth one to nineteen is actually gunshot wounds.
So that is something that we hate to see come in.
There's a lot of violence in communities right now. So
one thing that we really really try to educate people
on and push out in the community is resources for
proper gun securement like gunlocks, gunlock boxes, and making sure
(02:22):
guns are stored locked and unloaded whenever possible.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Remember, Stephanie, a few years ago, there were studies about
video games and whether they were linked to violence and
increased violence.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
That study came out and they didn't have any correlation.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
And it just doesn't seem possible that these kids are
growing up shooting guns on their video games and thinking
it's cool and then wanting to get a real one
when they're twelve or thirteen, or steal one or have
somebody give it to you, and then suddenly you're in
a tussle with somebody.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
And somebody's dead. I mean, do you feel that there's
a correlation.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
I'm not sure about that. I certainly don't find myself
to be an expert on the psychology of video games.
Sure it certainly seems like there would be a possibility
for that to be there. Our message is just, really,
we know people have guns. We just want to make
sure that they're stored safely and that they're locked up
so that people can't gain unintentional access to them.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
The upsetting part about that is that when parents have
the gun locked up and they know where dad keeps
the key, so right, it's not just locking up the
darn thing, but you've got to hide the key from
the kid because that's access basically, right.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
Yeah, So one thing that we try to do when
we give out gun lock boxes at the hospital, we
do typically try to do combination style locks. Those are
kind of a step up from the key blocks, so
that you could pick a combination that hopefully that you're
child wanting, your teenager wanting, guess, But there are also
biometric locks that can be purchased as well that work
(03:52):
off of a fingerprint, which is an even additional layer
of security that can be provided to keep that gun
locked up.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
And we get these news stories all the time about
somebody who will be bringing their gun in the house
and they just set it down for a second because
they're going to go get a drink in the kitchen
and the little kid comes up and you know, grabs
the gun.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
And so while they may be responsible ninety.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
Nine forty four one hundred percent of the time, that
little half a percent is the time when things happen.
So just want to kind of reiterate that because we
hear these things all the time, and I know you
see them at Cincinnati Children's Let's talk about protecting your kids. Now,
so many parents in these generations become what they call
(04:35):
helicopter parents.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
They hover over.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Them, They don't allow them to make mistakes, they don't
want them to get hurt or my new favorite term, Stephanie,
is snowplow parents, which cracked me up. People who push
aside every obstacle or challenge or failure to ensure their
kid's success, and they don't want their children to be
physically hurt. So how do you handle that with parents
(04:59):
or showing them more, teaching them a proper balance between
allowing the children freedom and properly protecting their child.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
That's a great question. It's so funny. I haven't heard
the term snowplow parent. I'll have to look that up though.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Also lawnmower parents. Lawnmower parents is a very good one,
but go ahead, I like snowplow.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Well, now that you mentioned lawnmowers, I would be remiss
to not mention that lawnmower injuries are actually pretty serious.
As we're gearing up for spring and summertime, so we
want to make sure that if you have anybody out
mowing the lawn that they're aware where the kids are,
and make sure that you set boundaries and rules so
that your kids know not to come in the backyard
when somebody's cutting the grass, because inadvertently they can be
(05:39):
backed over with the lawnmower or struck with the lawnmower,
or even rocks or other objects that get kicked up.
So it's funny you brought that up, but that's another
high rate of injuries with some seasonality that we see
as far as lawnmower injuries. So definitely I want to
put that point in there to be aware of that
as hopefully we're getting into some warmer weather here in Cincinnati.
(06:00):
Another thing you mentioned, you know, kind of the the
balance between helicopter and snowplow parents. I am a mom
of two little boys that are very rambunctious, so I
practice this in my everyday life trying to keep my
own kids safe and keep them out of the emergency rooms.
So some really some basic things that you can do,
(06:21):
kind of pending your child's age, would be definitely understanding
what car seat your child should be in, getting that
car seat checked to make sure that it's installed properly,
and then also putting in place any type of home
safety mechanisms. We kind of already covered the gunlocks, so
that would be one thing. Utilizing things that you can
purchase at the store for safety like gates, outlet plug covers,
(06:44):
cabinet latches, making sure you get all those chemicals and
cleaning supplies up out of reach so that your kids
can't get into them. And then also just supervising kids
to the best of your ability, you know, kind of
pending how old they are. You want to give kids
a little bit of freedom and especially get them out
to play as much as possible, but making sure that
when they're outside playing and doing things like riding bikes
(07:07):
or scooters, that they're wearing proper protective gear and helmets.
So that's one way. We can't always help every fall
or trip that happens when kids are playing, but when
we have correct protective equipment and safety measures in the home,
we can really reduce some of those more serious hospital injuries.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
If you just tuned in, I'm Sandy Collins speaking with
the program manager of the Comprehensive Children's Injury Center here
in Cincinnati, Stephanie Lyons. Stephanie, tell me if you would
more about the Comprehensive Children's Injury Center.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
We are a team of folks. It's myself and five
others that work locally here in Cincinnati. Some of us
are more hospital based and some of us are community based.
So the hospital based people, you'll see us doing a
lot of car seat fitting appointments and delivery appointments at
the hospital and checking car seats, and then the rest
of our team does a lot of community events, so
(08:00):
you'll see us out about in community healthfairs. We work
alongside the five to one three relief bus quite a bit.
So anytime you see us out in the community, any
type of safety equipment that's being given out, that's probably
somebody from my team.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
So how can parents get some information ahead of time
before they need you in the hospital.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
Absolutely, So we have a Facebook site it's called Growing Safer,
So we have a lot of seasonal posts out there
about a variety of different topics. So we would love
if people follow us on Facebook, and that's the Growing
Safer for the Comprehensive Children's Injury Center. We also have
some information on our website at Cincinnati Children's dot org
(08:40):
and you can search injury prevention. So we have a
lot of good information out there. You can also give
us a call. So we have a home safety line
which is five one seven home, and we have a
car seat line which is a oh three ride. Parents
and caregivers are always welcome to contact us ask any
questions they may have and if we're not the right
person to answer their quoes, and we're certainly happy to
(09:01):
get them in the right direction. We do also utilize
a fitting station list for car seat appointments for anybody
who needs assistance with their car seats. We have fire stations,
health organizations, and community agencies that have technicians available to
send people closer to home so that they can get
their car seat checked out make sure their kids riding safely.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Would you mind repeating those numbers of.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
Course, So the home safety line is going to be
five to one three five one seven home, and the
car seat line is going to be five to one
three eight zero three ride.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Stephanie Lyons, thank you so much. She's the program manager
of the Comprehensive Children's Injury Center here in Cincinnati. We
appreciate your time today.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Stephanie, Thanks so much.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Sandy, all right, that is a wrap for this week.
If you missed any of the show. You want to
hear it again or share it with a friend, Just
go to the iHeartRadio app and search under the podcast
tab for my name, Sandy Collins and iHeart Sinsey.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
We'll pop right up. If you have any.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Questions, suggestions, or comments about the show or what's going
on here in Cincinnati, let me know. Just send me
an email iHeart Sincy with an I at iHeartMedia dot com.
That's Iheartsincy at iHeartMedia dot com. If you have an
interesting guest program or an event you'd like to talk about,
let me know what it is.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
We'll see you back here next week. Thanks for listening.
Iheartsinsey is a production of iHeartMedia Cincinnati.
This is iHeart Cincy. I'm Sandy Collins. I've got another
great Cincinnatian to introduce you to. This is Stephanie Lyons.
She's the program manager at Cincinnati Children's of the Comprehensive
Children's Injury Center. She's a child passenger Safety Technician instructor,
and she specializes in the safe transport of children with
special health care needs. She's here to talk today about
(00:22):
the Comprehensive Children's Injury Center and how they help parents
navigate the dangers of childhood.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
We caught up earlier this week. How are you today,
I'm good.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
You know, Stephanie, getting hurt as a kid feels like
a rite of passage. You know, we used to break
our arms riding bikes or running through glass doors, and
then you hold up these scarred body parts as an
adult and you have a story to tell. It's always
kind of funny, but in reality, nobody wants that to happen,
and it can be very serious. And that's why we're
(00:57):
here today because that's what you do. You're working towards
preventing injuries for children. So I want to find out
more about that program and how that works at Children's
Medical Center.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Absolutely, so again, thank you so much for having me
on today. So one thing that my team does is
we work to reduce unintentional injuries that happen in the community.
Our goal is to not have kids get hurt so
that they don't have to come see us in the
emergency rooms. Injuries can be prevented. A lot of people
(01:30):
aren't familiar with that, so there are simple steps that
you can take, whether your kid is younger to teenage
range and up, to keep them safe at the home,
when they're at play, and when they're on the.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Go in the vehicle.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
So those are some of the things that our program
focuses on in reducing those injuries so that we don't
see injured kids in our emergency rooms.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Stephanie, is there one type of injury that like clearly
is the most common.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
So the most common injury in the United States right
now amongst youth one to nineteen is actually gunshot wounds.
So that is something that we hate to see come in.
There's a lot of violence in communities right now. So
one thing that we really really try to educate people
on and push out in the community is resources for
proper gun securement like gunlocks, gunlock boxes, and making sure
(02:22):
guns are stored locked and unloaded whenever possible.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Remember, Stephanie, a few years ago, there were studies about
video games and whether they were linked to violence and
increased violence.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
That study came out and they didn't have any correlation.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
And it just doesn't seem possible that these kids are
growing up shooting guns on their video games and thinking
it's cool and then wanting to get a real one
when they're twelve or thirteen, or steal one or have
somebody give it to you, and then suddenly you're in
a tussle with somebody.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
And somebody's dead. I mean, do you feel that there's
a correlation.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
I'm not sure about that. I certainly don't find myself
to be an expert on the psychology of video games.
Sure it certainly seems like there would be a possibility
for that to be there. Our message is just, really,
we know people have guns. We just want to make
sure that they're stored safely and that they're locked up
so that people can't gain unintentional access to them.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
The upsetting part about that is that when parents have
the gun locked up and they know where dad keeps
the key, so right, it's not just locking up the
darn thing, but you've got to hide the key from
the kid because that's access basically, right.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
Yeah, So one thing that we try to do when
we give out gun lock boxes at the hospital, we
do typically try to do combination style locks. Those are
kind of a step up from the key blocks, so
that you could pick a combination that hopefully that you're
child wanting, your teenager wanting, guess, But there are also
biometric locks that can be purchased as well that work
(03:52):
off of a fingerprint, which is an even additional layer
of security that can be provided to keep that gun
locked up.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
And we get these news stories all the time about
somebody who will be bringing their gun in the house
and they just set it down for a second because
they're going to go get a drink in the kitchen
and the little kid comes up and you know, grabs
the gun.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
And so while they may be responsible ninety.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
Nine forty four one hundred percent of the time, that
little half a percent is the time when things happen.
So just want to kind of reiterate that because we
hear these things all the time, and I know you
see them at Cincinnati Children's Let's talk about protecting your kids. Now,
so many parents in these generations become what they call
(04:35):
helicopter parents.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
They hover over.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Them, They don't allow them to make mistakes, they don't
want them to get hurt or my new favorite term, Stephanie,
is snowplow parents, which cracked me up. People who push
aside every obstacle or challenge or failure to ensure their
kid's success, and they don't want their children to be
physically hurt. So how do you handle that with parents
(04:59):
or showing them more, teaching them a proper balance between
allowing the children freedom and properly protecting their child.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
That's a great question. It's so funny. I haven't heard
the term snowplow parent. I'll have to look that up though.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Also lawnmower parents. Lawnmower parents is a very good one,
but go ahead, I like snowplow.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Well, now that you mentioned lawnmowers, I would be remiss
to not mention that lawnmower injuries are actually pretty serious.
As we're gearing up for spring and summertime, so we
want to make sure that if you have anybody out
mowing the lawn that they're aware where the kids are,
and make sure that you set boundaries and rules so
that your kids know not to come in the backyard
when somebody's cutting the grass, because inadvertently they can be
(05:39):
backed over with the lawnmower or struck with the lawnmower,
or even rocks or other objects that get kicked up.
So it's funny you brought that up, but that's another
high rate of injuries with some seasonality that we see
as far as lawnmower injuries. So definitely I want to
put that point in there to be aware of that
as hopefully we're getting into some warmer weather here in Cincinnati.
(06:00):
Another thing you mentioned, you know, kind of the the
balance between helicopter and snowplow parents. I am a mom
of two little boys that are very rambunctious, so I
practice this in my everyday life trying to keep my
own kids safe and keep them out of the emergency rooms.
So some really some basic things that you can do,
(06:21):
kind of pending your child's age, would be definitely understanding
what car seat your child should be in, getting that
car seat checked to make sure that it's installed properly,
and then also putting in place any type of home
safety mechanisms. We kind of already covered the gunlocks, so
that would be one thing. Utilizing things that you can
purchase at the store for safety like gates, outlet plug covers,
(06:44):
cabinet latches, making sure you get all those chemicals and
cleaning supplies up out of reach so that your kids
can't get into them. And then also just supervising kids
to the best of your ability, you know, kind of
pending how old they are. You want to give kids
a little bit of freedom and especially get them out
to play as much as possible, but making sure that
when they're outside playing and doing things like riding bikes
(07:07):
or scooters, that they're wearing proper protective gear and helmets.
So that's one way. We can't always help every fall
or trip that happens when kids are playing, but when
we have correct protective equipment and safety measures in the home,
we can really reduce some of those more serious hospital injuries.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
If you just tuned in, I'm Sandy Collins speaking with
the program manager of the Comprehensive Children's Injury Center here
in Cincinnati, Stephanie Lyons. Stephanie, tell me if you would
more about the Comprehensive Children's Injury Center.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
We are a team of folks. It's myself and five
others that work locally here in Cincinnati. Some of us
are more hospital based and some of us are community based.
So the hospital based people, you'll see us doing a
lot of car seat fitting appointments and delivery appointments at
the hospital and checking car seats, and then the rest
of our team does a lot of community events, so
(08:00):
you'll see us out about in community healthfairs. We work
alongside the five to one three relief bus quite a bit.
So anytime you see us out in the community, any
type of safety equipment that's being given out, that's probably
somebody from my team.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
So how can parents get some information ahead of time
before they need you in the hospital.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
Absolutely, So we have a Facebook site it's called Growing Safer,
So we have a lot of seasonal posts out there
about a variety of different topics. So we would love
if people follow us on Facebook, and that's the Growing
Safer for the Comprehensive Children's Injury Center. We also have
some information on our website at Cincinnati Children's dot org
(08:40):
and you can search injury prevention. So we have a
lot of good information out there. You can also give
us a call. So we have a home safety line
which is five one seven home, and we have a
car seat line which is a oh three ride. Parents
and caregivers are always welcome to contact us ask any
questions they may have and if we're not the right
person to answer their quoes, and we're certainly happy to
(09:01):
get them in the right direction. We do also utilize
a fitting station list for car seat appointments for anybody
who needs assistance with their car seats. We have fire stations,
health organizations, and community agencies that have technicians available to
send people closer to home so that they can get
their car seat checked out make sure their kids riding safely.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Would you mind repeating those numbers of.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
Course, So the home safety line is going to be
five to one three five one seven home, and the
car seat line is going to be five to one
three eight zero three ride.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Stephanie Lyons, thank you so much. She's the program manager
of the Comprehensive Children's Injury Center here in Cincinnati. We
appreciate your time today.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Stephanie, Thanks so much.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Sandy, all right, that is a wrap for this week.
If you missed any of the show. You want to
hear it again or share it with a friend, Just
go to the iHeartRadio app and search under the podcast
tab for my name, Sandy Collins and iHeart Sinsey.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
We'll pop right up. If you have any.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Questions, suggestions, or comments about the show or what's going
on here in Cincinnati, let me know. Just send me
an email iHeart Sincy with an I at iHeartMedia dot com.
That's Iheartsincy at iHeartMedia dot com. If you have an
interesting guest program or an event you'd like to talk about,
let me know what it is.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
We'll see you back here next week. Thanks for listening.
Iheartsinsey is a production of iHeartMedia Cincinnati.
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