TY - JOUR T1 - Preventing accidental injuries in children: champions needed in primary care JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 579 LP - 580 VL - 55 IS - 517 AU - Yvonne Carter Y1 - 2005/08/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/55/517/579.abstract N2 - ‘The child is burned! I never hear that announcement without a shudder, for it has opened the portals to a long avenue of pain and distress, an avenue that may lead to an age-long disfigurement and too often, by shorter ways, to the tragedy of death. Let us take counsel together about it. Wherein are its dangers? What are its risks? How can disaster be mitigated or avoided?’ (Sir John Fraser)1During my vocational training in general practice I spent 6 months as a senior house officer in the accident and emergency department of Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool. I still recall the quiet Saturday when we received a telephone alert from the ambulance control centre to say that two children that had been involved in a serious house fire were on their way. I assisted the consultant surgeon as he administered intravenous morphine to ease the pain in the resuscitation area, and the memory of that day has remained with me. Years later, I came across the quotation above when preparing the literature review for my MD thesis on the prevention of accidents to preschool children, and it eloquently sums up why I remained interested in the topic. It is unusual to start an editorial in such … ER -