Pittsburgh, January 29, 1999 -- Traumatic injury is the leading cause of death in young people, and more than 100,000 people in the United States each year are permanently disabled because of brain and spinal cord injuries.

Since prevention is the only cure, the University of Pittsburgh Center for Injury Research and Control (CIRCL) and the department of neurological surgery have teamed up with the City of Pittsburgh School District to present a brain and spinal cord injury prevention program called "Think First For Kids" to first-, second- and third-grade school students.

"About 10 to 15 percent of brain injuries in children are severe, and those who survive these injuries are often left with permanent neurological disabilities," said Donald Marion, MD, CIRCL director and head of neurological trauma at UPMC. "Although less common than brain injury, there are about 12,000 new spinal cord injuries every year in this country with 10 percent occurring in children. One of the best ways to address prevention of these traumatic injuries is to provide early and timely educational and interventional services."

"Think First For Kids is designed to help students develop safety habits that will minimize the risks of brain and spinal cord injuries," said Paula Kovanic-Spiro, MPH, CIRCL researcher and course director. "This represents a new effort to expand the message of safety to the elementary school-aged population."

The program is presented to students in the classroom by physicians and residents from the University of Pittsburgh department of neurological surgery, accompanied by Darius Carlins, of Baldwin, who was paralyzed from the waist down in a traffic accident when he was a high school student.

The presentation focuses on five areas: vehicular safety, bicycle safety, playground safety, water safety, and violence. Each hour-long lesson begins with a videotape which introduces safety messages. Messages are then reinforced by posters, coloring books and comic strips featuring StreetSmart, a safety superhero.

"Children learn school bus safety, obeying signs and signals, the proper way to wear a seat belt, the importance of wearing bicycle helmets, playground safety, water safety and what to do around weapons," said Ms. Kovanic-Spiro. "For instance, if they find a gun, they are taught not to touch it, leave the area and call an adult."

Surgeons typically bring along models of the skeleton, the spinal cord and the brain as a show-and-tell for the kids.

The program already has been presented at two city schools and will be presented at other city schools throughout the school year.

"To understand the impact and effectiveness of this program, we plan to perform an evaluation of student awareness and behavior before and after participating in the Think First program," Ms. Kovanic-Spiro said.

Think First For Kids was developed by the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. Nationwide more than four million kids have participated in the program.