About Us
A Brief History
The WVU ICRC was formally established in September 2004. Despite this relatively recent occurrence, the Center has been built upon a long-standing commitment to injury control within the University and upon a proven track record of productivity and accomplishments. In 1992, WVU established the Center for Rural Emergency Medicine (CREM). Founded and directed by Dr. John Prescott, who was then Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine and now serves as Dean of the School of the Medicine, CREM’s mission was to study and improve the delivery and effectiveness of emergency care in rural environments and underserved areas. Beginning in 1993, CREM received designation as an Injury Control Training and Demonstration Center (ICTDC) and received funding from CDC’s NCIPC to conduct injury focused training, intervention programs, and research. The majority of programmatic activities were directed towards the training of rural health care providers (e.g., physicians, dentists, nurses, and physician assistants) and first responders (e.g., firefighters, EMTs ). These initiatives included education on primary injury prevention and a variety of programs designed to improve acute care delivery to rural trauma patients. From 1993 through 2004, the WVU ICTDC conducted an extensive outreach effort that included the provision of nearly 3,800 courses, training over 35,000 individuals in the West Virginia region.
While the overwhelming emphasis of the ICTDC over the years was on training, research activities started to pick up in the late 1990s. In collaboration with NCIPC intramural staff, a number of research themes were identified including occupational and recreational injuries, rural emergency preparedness, and emergency department-based alcohol intervention studies. Faculty and staff with research expertise were recruited to the Center and these investigators quickly established a track record of scholarly work that led to numerous peer-review publications in leading scientific journals.
Our sustained record of accomplishment and productivity led NCIPC to encourage our initial submission of an ICRC proposal in 2004. In addition, this history within the University coupled with a renewed University emphasis on scientific discovery, has provided an ideally supportive environment for the initial success and continued growth of our Center. This anticipated growth has been recognized by CDC, which has awarded WVU 5-years of continued funding through July 2012.
Current Status
The WVU ICRC is housed within the Robert C Byrd Health Sciences Center. West Virginia University, the state's land grant university, is a level I research institution located in Morgantown, West Virginia.
Injury is a continuing public health problem that has reached epidemic proportions. Injury is the fourth leading cause of death in both the U.S. and West Virginia and is the leading cause of death among those under age 45. Every year in West Virginia, about 1200 people die from injuries, another 17,250 are hospitalized, and as many as 225,000 are treated in hospital emergency departments. Death, paralysis, amputation, brain damage, loss of sight, and other serious injuries occur on a daily basis to our friends, relatives and co-workers and have resulted in huge public health and economic burdens.
The public health challenges of West Virginia are well known and best captured by its total mortality and its national ranking as number 43 among states in terms of overall health. West Virginia is the only state which falls entirely in Appalachia and manifests all of the socioeconomic and public health challenges of the region. The state ranks number two in cancer deaths, and number three in heart disease-related deaths nationwide. West Virginia ranks third in the nation in overall diabetes prevalence, fifth in asthma prevalence, and first in the prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Demographic factors also play an important role in the health of West Virginians. The population of the state is older than the national average and of lower socio-economic standing than the national average. The median age in West Virginia is the highest among all states and is over 3.5 years higher than for the U.S.; 38.9 vs. 35.3 years. The proportion of the total population 65 years and over is higher in West Virginia (15.3%) compared to the U.S. (12.4%).
With two-thirds of its 1.8 million people living in communities of less than 25,000 in population and 44 of its 55 counties designated as non-metropolitan, West Virginia ranks as the second most rural state in the country. Additionally, 67% of West Virginia’s counties have full or partial designation as Health Professions Shortage Areas, and 47 of the 55 counties have full or partial designation as medically underserved areas, making access the healthcare a major concern in the state.
These regional, demographic, and economic factors contribute to producing high injury mortality rates among West Virginians. Overall 2003 injury fatality rates in WV, for both genders, significantly exceeded U.S. rates. Total injuries, including both unintentional and intentional (i.e., homicide and suicide), accounted for between 6% and 6.5% of all deaths in WV and the U.S. and about one-quarter of all years of productive life lost (YPLL) up to age 75.
Mission
The mission of the WVU ICRC is to advance the science and practice of injury control through research, education and information dissemination.
Aims
Specific aims of the WVU ICRC are to: (1) Conduct and stimulate interdisciplinary injury control research, with emphasis on injuries affecting high-risk rural populations; (2) Promote scholarship and leadership in injury control by educating the next generation of West Virginia University graduate students and medical students in the science and practice of injury control; (3) Provide accurate and timely information on the health and economic burden imposed by injuries and the effectiveness of preventive interventions through a range of dissemination activities; and (4) Maintain an organizational structure that suports our mission and enhances Center growth, quality and efficiency through an evaluation and review process.
Organizational Alignment
The ICRC Director/Principal Investigator reports directly to the Dean, West Virginia University School of Medicine. An organizational chart is available here.