Child Fatality Review and Response Program

 

Three green blocks with text FIMR, SIDS, CDR (representing acronym of 3 existing fetal, infant, and child death review programs at Solano County MCAH Bureau

Child Fatality Review and Response Program
 

What is the Child Fatality Review and Response Program?

The Child Fatality Review and Response Program (CFRRP) represents the three existing programs which address fetal, infant, and child death in Solano County: Fetal Infant Mortality Review (FIMR), Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), and Child Death Review (CDR).

 
What is the Fetal Infant Mortality Review (FIMR) Program?


FIMR is...
  • an action-oriented process leading to creative ideas to improve community resources and services systems for woman, infants, and families in Solano County
  • a timely and valuable source of information about changing health care systems and how they affect real families trying to access them
  • a community coalition that promotes volunteerism and good citizenship and will translate into local accountability and pride
  • a community coalition that can represent all ethnic and cultural views in the community and becomes a model of respect and understanding
  • a cost-saving process maximizing efficient use of local services and resources
  • a strategy that improves communication among health and human service providers
  • a method that takes the most successful process with continuous quality improvement that businesses use to produce better products and applies it to produce better health care for children and families
  • a voice for local families who have lose their baby
  • a tool that helps local health officials develop the core public health functions of assessment and assurance and implement policies to safeguard families
  • a program supported by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, and the federal Maternal and Child Health Bureau

    The website for the National Fetal Infant Mortality Review Program (NFIMR) can be accessed here.


  • What is the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Program?

    SIDS is the sudden, unexplained death of a baby younger than 1 year of age with an unknown cause even after a complete and thorough investigation, which includes performing an autopsy, examining the death scene, and reviewing the baby's clinical history. When a baby dies, health care providers, law enforcement personnel, and communities try to find out why. They ask questions, examine the baby, gather information, and run tests. If they cannot find a cause for the death, and if the baby was younger than 1 year old, the medical examiner or coroner will call the death SIDS. If there is still some uncertainty as to the cause after it is determined to be fully unexplained, then the medical examiner or coroner might leave the cause of death as "unknown". The protocol for determining a SIDS death differs by County and by the medical examiner or coroner's preferences.

    SIDS and SUID are sometimes used interchangeably. SUID stands for Sudden Unexpected Infant Death. SIDS and SUID both describe the sudden and unexpected death of a baby less than 1 year of age in which the cause of death is not obvious after investigation. These deaths often happen during sleep or in the baby's sleep area, but can happen in different situations and environments too.

    Did you know that 3,500 babies in the United States die suddenly and unexpectedly each year? In Solano County, infant deaths typically range from 2 to 7 deaths per year. Due to the smaller population size of Solano County and the ever fluctuating number of infant deaths per year, it is difficult to definitely determine a trend in SIDS deaths for Solano County. We can however state that the rate of SIDS has been historically high in Solano County and that African American/Black infants are disproportionately affected, which follows national data trends that demonstrate increased risk for SIDS among African American/Black and American Indian infants.

    In Solano County, the SIDS Coordinator reaches out to families who suffer an infant loss and provides support, resources, and referrals. For more information about SIDS and Safe Sleep Education, please visit the Safe to Sleep Campaign website here.

    Resources & Training
    For educational materials about Safe Sleep and/or to request an in-service for Safe Sleep Education training for your staff, please contact MCAH Staff at (707) 784-8903 or [email protected].

    Opportunities for training are dependent on availability of the SIDS/Safe Sleep educators and available educational materials from the Safe to Sleep Campaign from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).

    Agencies and organizations are also welcome to order educational materials on their own using the NICHD online order form as well as the paper order form, which can be accessed here.

     SIDS is ...
  • not the cause of every infant death
  • not caused by vaccines, immunizations, or shots
  • not contagious
  • not the result of neglect or child abuse
  • not caused by cribs, bassinets, or other sleep environments (such as play pens)
  • not caused by vomiting or choking
  • not completely preventable, but there are ways to reduce the risk for SIDS

  • What is the Child Death Review (CDR) Program?

    The Child Death Review (CDR) Program is led by the Solano County Coroner's office. The interdisciplinary CDR Team collects comprehensive information that will include the circumstances involved in the child death, investigative actions, services provided or needed, key risk factors and actions recommended and/or taken to prevent other child deaths.

              white puzzle with black missing puzzle piece to right of center
    How do we define a fetal death, infant death, and child death?
    Fetal Death = Death of a fetus over a 20-week gestation period. The death is indicated by the fact that, after expulsion or extraction, the fetus does not breathe or show any other evidence of life, such as a beating heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles.

    Infant Death = Any death at any time from birth up to, but not including, one year of age (364 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes from the moment of birth).

    Child Death = Death of a child aged 0 to 14 years and adolescents age 15 to 19 years. An infant death can also be referred to as a "child death", but "infant death" is preferred in cases involving death of child from birth up to 364 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes of age.
    Solano County's Child Fatality Review and Response Program Objectives
    • Examine significant socio-economic, safety and health-system factors that are associated with fetal, infant, and child mortality
    • Recommend interventions and policies to improve the service system and community resources
    • Participate in the implementation of community-based interventions and policies
    • Assess the progress of the interventions
    FIMR Team Recommendations:
    2004-2009 Solano County FIMR Report
    Download the 2004-2009 Solano County FIMR Report. (You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the document).

    Free Materials:
    For the Safe Sleep for Baby brochure, click here for the English version and click here for the Spanish version.

    If you would like to join the FIMR, SIDS, and/or CDR teams, please contact Susan Whalen, Solano County MCAH Bureau's Senior Health Education Specialist, at 707-784-8397 or [email protected]