Kentucky County Deemed a Safe Community by NSC
Jessamine County, Kentucky, leaders plan to try to end unintentional injuries.
The National Safety Council has announced that Jessamine County, Ky., has become an accredited Safe Community via the Safe Communities America program. Jessamine County is now the 27th community in the United States to receive the accreditation.
"We are thrilled to have Jessamine County join the Safe Communities America network," said Carrie Nie, director of Safe Communities America at the NSC. "The Jessamine County Safe Communities coalition understands that prioritizing safety is essential to improving the quality of life for their residents. Through their strong leadership and their ease in building partners, we know there is nothing but success ahead for Jessamine County, and we look forward to seeing and sharing all their great work."
To earn the accreditation, Jessamine County gathered a group of stakeholders to examine injury data and develop strategies, which resulted in community campaigns, media outreach, and management of the Bluegrass Emergency Response Team. The biggest focus will be workplace incidents, which are higher in Jessamine County than anywhere else in the state, according to the NSC.
"This honor exemplifies our community's commitment to protecting life by making Jessamine County a safer place to live, work, and play," said Randy Gooch, public health director at the Jessamine County Health Department. "The Safe Communities America program provides a great structure and framework of support, enabling us to assess our local injury and fatality data and establish goals addressing those areas impacting our community the most. As a public health director, I'm very pleased we have this partnership to address intentional and unintentional injury, one of the leading causes of death in our community which has the greatest impact on the premature loss of life years."