Background Unintentional injury is the leading cause of death and disability for America’s children. The economic consequences of injury are staggering; with injury being the leading cause of medical spending for children ages 5–14 in Wisconsin. As a health care system, we see the consequences of preventable injuries. As a children’s hospital we have an obligation to lead the way in modelling best practice, evidence-based injury prevention strategies for children in collaboration with our community partners.

Methods/approach Review of Wisconsin paediatric injury and death data formed the basis of prioritising program development or system-level strategies for injury prevention. Using a policy, systems, environmental approach, we identified best practice injury prevention strategies with our community partners. By implementing a collective impact model and community engagement, we formulated plans for improving the injury prevention strategies for children and families in our community.

Results Examples related to child passenger safety, home visitor program, a safe sleep campaign, Safety Town, and a “safety store” will be provided. Program barriers and challenges, as well as successful outcomes in strengthening the culture of injury prevention through community engagement will be shared.

Conclusions Health care providers and community partners are looking to embrace population health strategies to achieve a greater good for improving the health of children. Using a collective impact model enables communities to accelerate the progress they can have in reducing childhood injury related morbidity and mortality. Safety devices, when correctly used, are highly effective in preventing injuries and saving lives. Recognition of the need to reduce health disparities by removing potential social, economic and language barriers for families around injury prevention strategies is critical.