Me? A Blogger?
People are motivated to blog for different and varying reasons. The most compelling of these for me is the ability to quickly and pretty directly get the perspectives of those we aim to serve and those who can help us serve well. In keeping with our strong tradition of partnership, I am launching this blog. Every two weeks or so, I will prepare entries or invite guest writers to discuss timely issues relating to Injury Center priorities, science, and partnerships. I invite you–our partners, colleagues and customers–to exchange ideas and thoughts with us through the creation of this discussion forum.

The Injury Center is committed to contributing to the CDC mission by optimizing quality of life and helping each person to realize his or her full potential. We do that primarily by committing to preventing injuries and violence and reducing their consequences. In order to do this, we are cognizant of the fact that we need an optimal workforce. This includes attracting and retaining the world class people we need. We depend on our people and their superior work- that's what makes us successful.

In addition to making sure that we have a world class workforce, we commit to making sure that science directs the investments we make both in terms of getting information out to the public and then developing tools that we know will be effective in the prevention of those injuries. We also recognize that we need to foster partnerships with both traditional and non-traditional sectors.

At the Injury Center we are focused on what we need to accomplish and what it is that we have to do to sustain focus. We have dedicated ourselves over the next three to five years to three very important areas:

• Promoting safe, stable, and nurturing relationships between children, parents and other care-givers as a way of making sure that they are safe from injuries and maltreatment in the home.
• Ensuring that every home in America has functioning smoke alarms to reduce residential fires and related injuries and fatalities.
• Preventing falls among older adults to ensure independence and improve quality of life.

I am happy to say that we have been able to partner with a variety of agencies and organizations to provide you with information and tools. We hope to enable you to optimize the safety of yourselves and your families not only at home but in your communities and in all the places that you spend time in across your life span. You can find a wealth of injury and violence information resources on the Injury Center website at www.cdc.gov/injury.

I look forward to communicating with you through this blog and encourage you to actively participate. I welcome your thoughts on how to make this blog more effective by sending your comments, questions or ideas.

Posted by: Ileana Arias, Thursday, May 17, 04:30 pm ET

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