Special Edition - Safe States 2025 Annual Conference

In this episode, host Mighty Fine is live with attendees at the Safe States 2025  Annual Conference held virtually this year. Hear how they are "Rising Up and Branching Out" in their injury and violence prevention work through networking, attending sessions and getting involved during the three day conference held September 9-11 online.

Guests include:

• Lisa Roth, Deputy Director, University of Iowa Injury Prevention Research Center
• Dilenny Roca, Program Manager, Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University Medical Center
• Stacey Pinto, Trauma Injury Prevention & Outreach Coordinator at Good Samaritan University Hospital
• Scott Proescholdbell, Epidemiologist/Manager at North Carolina Division of Public Health
• Amy Schlotthauer, Founding Principal, AES Consulting
• Joanne Miles-Holmes, Injury Prevention Program Administrator, New Hampshire Department Health & Human Services
• Tracy Mehan, Director of Research Translation & Communication, Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital
• Victoria Broussard, Senior Project Officer, Health Resources in Action
• Lynnsey O'Rourke, Program Coordinator, Safe States Alliance
• Jessica Ritter, Safe Kids PA Office Coordinator, American Trauma Society, Pennsylvania Division

Musical transition credit: Pixabay "Conga-man Groove" by Miyagisama

Transcript

Mighty Fine: 0:04

Welcome to the IVP INdepth podcast, a Safe States Alliance production. I'm your host, Mighty Fine, and I'm thrilled to have you here. This is a space where injury and violence prevention professionals come together to share ideas, spark conversation and dive into some of the most pressing topics, shaping the fields. So whether you're here to stay in the loop, find inspiration, or to be part of a community that wants to make a difference, you are in the right place. On today's episode, we're coming to you live from Safe State 2025 Annual Injury and Violence Prevention Conference, which is being held virtually this year, the theme is "Rising Up and Branching Out". And as you know, this is a premier event for injury and violence prevention professionals working across a variety of settings to connect and learn from one another. On this very special episode, we are so fortunate to have some of our meeting attendees with us. They'll be stopping by to talk about their meeting experience. You'll hear their takeaways, highlights, and a few gems that they walked away with. Hi, Lisa, always excited to talk to you, and even more excited that you are to be featured on IVP INdepth again, especially for the conference. So I just want to hear from you. What are you most looking forward to this year?

Lisa Roth: 1:33

Mighty it's always a pleasure to talk with you, and I'm just so excited that we have this opportunity this week to really be able to connect with one another, learn from one another, even though it's in a virtual format, I still feel like there's value in that connection and being with our Safe States colleagues, just to learn about all the wonderful things that people are doing in injury and violence prevention. Now more than ever, I think we just really need to be leaning into each other and figuring out ways that we can rise up and branch out along with the conference theme. I guess,

Mighty Fine: 2:12

yes, I love that, rising up and branching out totally on board with that and thinking about the conference and the theme, and we just had the pre sessions and the opening, is there anything that you heard that is serving as an inspiration or aspiration as you continue to move through the conference, but also once you sort of leave the virtual space and go back to your day to day?

Lisa Roth: 2:36

Well, absolutely, I thought the keynote session this morning was really inspiring and impactful, just because we all definitely need to embrace this opportunity to empower the voices of our community. We're at a critical juncture, I feel like in injury and violence prevention, not only with the funding issues that are so critical at the moment, but we are really needing to connect with our communities and be able to tell the stories of the people that our work is impacting, but not only tell their stories, involve them in the work that we're doing. So we know for sure that we have a connection to them and that we're really listening to how we might integrate our injury and violence prevention programming into their communities, and so there's good representation in all respects, totally.

Mighty Fine: 3:28

It really to your point, amplifying the voices and assuring that it's a collective effort. And I think you hit the nail on the head when you said, now's the time. More than ever, in some ways, I feel for us to really acknowledge that that connection is important, and partnership and co-creating and collaborating is critically important, especially communities and those most impacted. And you know, there's some time that I would say, in the past few years, at least, I've noticed that we've we in the field of injury and violence prevention, but public health largely has focused on sort of lived experience and having a broader and greater appreciation, but to your point, even a more in depth understanding of how that can contribute to the collective effort of us moving the needle when we're thinking about protecting our communities from injury and violence or other health issues. So I think you're spot on with that for sure.

Lisa Roth: 4:24

Absolutely, I couldn't have said it any better than that mighty the other piece of the conference that always excites me and just gives me a lot of joy, and I guess pride, is being able to recognize the people with awards that work so hard in the injury and violence prevention field. I mean, you heard a couple of them, for those who could join this morning, a couple of our award winners, specifically the President's Award, with Paul Banta being recognized, and again, I think he has done a tremendous job with the support of the membership, of being able to elevate our voice as an organization. Education as an alliance, and then also just really inspiring and empowering people to reach out to their elected officials and let them know just how important the work that we do is. And then you also heard about the Alex Kelter award winner, Ming Chu with the Nebraska Department of Health, and all of the work he's done, I would just encourage people to go on and view the videos of the award winners. Paul bontez is is fantastic. It's kind of hilarious. He does a really good job of accepting the award, but I think it's just a great opportunity for us to showcase the talent that we have in this field. And I think they're all so very deserving. So I just encourage people to go onto the Whova platform and to be able to access the recipients videos.

Mighty Fine: 5:48

Yeah, Lisa, I think that's a great point. Interestingly enough, I just talked to some I was going to say kids, but they're not kids, but some undergraduates from public health program, excuse me, master's level of students from their public health program, and that's one of the things sort of aligning with what you said. And I encourage them to really take up space and acknowledge that they are contributing to the public health field. And I think oftentimes we're pretty humble in our work in public health, which is fine. I totally understand that. I also think it's critically important to showcase what we are doing to help keep folks safe, and how we're partnering and collaborating and advocating, educating all of the things. And I think the more visibility we have that it helps folks to acknowledge the great contributions of folks in the injury and violence prevention space, but also public health, again, more broadly, and I agree, I think it's critically important for us to acknowledge the contributions of our colleagues and those that are really making a difference. Because I often feel that it serves as, again, aspiration and inspiration. When you say, like, Oh hey, Paul was able to do that. Lisa could do that, Christa could do that whomever is sort of ignite something in some folks, to let them feel that that's also possible, achievable, and maybe even help redirect how they see themselves contributing to the greater good. So I think that's a great point that we don't focus on enough. So thank you for raising that is that it's important to acknowledge the wonderful contributions of our colleagues and yeah, great encouragement as well to tell folks to go and check it out, so those videos can serve as inspiration, and also so you can acknowledge the great work that these folks are doing.

Lisa Roth: 7:34

Yeah, and I would say lastly, Mighty I think one of the things that Safe States does so well is provide a conference that really appeals to a broad audience, whether you're a student like you just mentioned having talked some to some masters level students, whether you're student just kind of entering this field, whether you're somebody who's maybe mid career and still kind of honing your skills and figuring out different directions to take some of the programming that you're doing, or whether you're somebody who has a lot of experience, I think there are sessions as part of this conference that really appeal to everybody. So whether you're wanting to kind of dive deeper into something that's maybe more like a learning lab, or a session that's going to maybe inspire some of your learning or doing some professional development for yourself. There's just so many different sessions. So again, I just encourage everybody to really engage, take a deep dive, participate. It's a phenomenal conference, whether we're virtual or in person. I think you're gonna have an amazing week.

Mighty Fine: 8:37

Thank you. And I think that's a great way to punctuate it, Lisa, because I was going to ask you, what would you tell folks who are either attending or have never attended a conference? And I think that was a great summation of it I shared before. It's always great to connect, even virtually. I feel, I feel a part of Safe States. And I don't think everyone can always say that in a meeting setting, whether virtual or in person. I think Safe States does a great job of curating an inclusive and engaging experience. So I think you put it perfectly and again, just thank you as always for taking time to chat with us. It's a pleasure to share space with you as always. Thanks. Mighty applause. Dilenny, so excited to have you here with us for this special edition of IVP in depth recording live from the annual conference. And so just want to hear from you what has been inspirational or aspirational thus far in any of the sessions you've attended, folks that you've connected with. We just want to hear about your experience thus far. On day two, oh,

Dilenny Roca: 9:46

you Mighty Fine for having me on the podcast today. I really enjoy the is it well, Whoover or whova, whatever you call it? Because. It's like the I love the attendees list. First of all, because there are names that you we recognize, either from publications or from emails or things that we see or read, and they're there and they're just a click away, and you can just say hi. This is so and so. I've read your work, I've I've seen your program. I wanted to learn more about it, and it's really, um, a nice way, I think, to connect with people at conferences that are in person. We can obviously see each other, right? But you don't always know who's who, unless you're running from one, you know, room to the next and saying, Oh, I really want to meet so and so, and they're speaking in, you know, a room 404. But now I can just go through the list of people and just say, Hey, I always wanted to meet you. And I think that your work is wonderful. Like yesterday, I don't do a lot of violence prevention. I'm mostly unintentional childhood injury person right through my work with Injury Free Coalition for Kids. But yesterday, I went to a session where they were talking about Peace Play, and I that was something I've never learned about, never heard about. It was a really wonderful session. Actually. I really enjoyed it. They had great examples of how it can be used and incorporated. And so I'm very grateful for this opportunity to just be in a virtual format and be able to take advantage of all the little pieces, and it's quite the networking, the networking platform, and it's fun.

Mighty Fine: 11:52

Yeah, totally. I think you hit on two things that certainly resonate with me. The first is the connection, and still being able to connect and engage with folks, although it's a virtual platform, and I think that just speaks to sort of the heart of Safe States, where people are willing to connect and engage and collaborate and partner, and you reach out to them, and they're responsive. And like you said, it's like, Hey, I just saw your name on a paper last week, and now I can just chat you through this app and app, and then there's some connection that happened there. The other thing that you picked up on, which also I love coming to Safe States for, is that if there's an issue area that I typically don't work in, you have the opportunity to learn a little bit more about it. Like you said, there may be even some innovation that sparked from that for you to think about how you apply what you've learned to your own work. So totally agree with you on that, and I use Safe States as an opportunity to tap into issue areas that I don't typically work on day to day. So I think those are two great points indeed.

Dilenny Roca: 12:50

And if I, if I can just add one more, please do very impressed with is just with Safe States Alliance, right? Like we work with a lot of hospitals and trauma centers, right by way of our organization and but I also get to interact with Department of Health people, interact with people we're working in poison prevention that are not necessarily in the same kind of circles on a daily basis, right? And so and you get to hear like the different systemic ways that injury prevention kind of, kind of gets spread across either the states or or the country as a whole, by all of these different sources, right? So we're out in a hospital and on the ground and working with people side by side and face to face. But then there's also these other elements that kind of build up this like social, ecological like injury prevention model, which I really like, and you get to see it by seeing all the people who are part of city states and at the conference,

Mighty Fine: 14:05

Totally, totally, totally agree. Well, Dilenny, thank you so much for joining us. Wishing you a great rest of the conference. Look forward to seeing you in the app, whether in a session or some other place virtually, but thanks again for taking time out to chat with us today.

Dilenny Roca: 14:22

Thank you, Mighty

Mighty Fine: 14:37

Well, Stacey, thank you for joining us live today for this special recording of our IVP in depth podcast. So excited to have you here with us, and just want to hear from you what's been inspirational thus far in the conference, what's something new that you've learned, a connection that you've made. Just want to hear how that your experience is going so far on day two.

Stacey Pinto: 14:58

Sure, so this. My second time attending virtually, so I had I'm having more of a greater appreciation for it this time around, having just gone in person last year for the first time, so really making those connections in person, and now I get to connect virtually with everyone I met last year and new people from the networking sessions. So that's been really great. Something I literally just came out of a session about creating meaningful practicums, and that's how I really got introduced to Safe States in the first place, was for a meaningful practicum. And now that I am in the role has been reversed where I am now the injury prevention coordinator. I really would like to get that started. So I never knew really where to get started. So that was a really helpful experience. I just had exchanging ideas with everyone in the group and just like where to get started now, as I go back to school again for my second masters, how can I get those students involved? Because everyone's been coming to me now and asking how I can help them, or vice versa. So I know it's a two way street. So how can we get started with that? And then something that really resonated with me, with me yesterday, was during the keynote speaker, talking about all of the risk perception and how to message things turn it over to the audiences correctly. So I thought that was really meaningful. It's something I learned back in, think, in an environmental health course, back in the day, but how can we really put it out and translate it to our audiences appropriately? So that was something really meaningful as I go back to school and now I'm learning everything from an administrative perspective in a healthcare setting. So how can we translate it there? It seems to be a gap there from the administrative side of things. How can we put a public health twist on it? So I thought that was really great. So that's pretty much in a nutshell. I'll keep it short.

Mighty Fine: 16:59

No that's helpful. And thank you for sharing. And I think you speak to what others are finding as their experience as well, when you're sort of really delving into the content and seeing how you can apply it outside of the conference. And for me, anyway, I love when I can go to a conference and you learn something, you're like, oh my gosh, I can actually apply this in the work that I'm doing. It makes it all feel worthwhile, in addition to the great connections that you, that you you're making. So certainly appreciate you for sharing that. So Stacy, as I understand it, you also help plan some of the conference. I would love to hear your thoughts on how what you worked on and seeing come to fruition, and how you're feeling about

Stacey Pinto: 17:41

That. I mean, it's a great feeling working behind the scenes, even if I'm not going to offer and implement it during the conference, but just exchanging ideas of Christa behind the scenes and seeing it come to fruition has been really rewarding. And then kind of just, I mean, we were discussing how successful they were, how engaging the audience was. Sometimes you don't get that all the time, so you it's kind of more one ended, but this was two ended on both sides. A lot of laughs were shared, and everyone was really, really they didn't want it to end. I feel like, especially yesterday, our last session. So it's been again, really rewarding, and I look forward to continuing to help out. Awesome.

Mighty Fine: 18:24

Well, thank you. Job well done, and again, thank you for stopping by to chat with us today. We appreciate it, of course, and it looks like we have Darcelle Odom, who's joining the podcast as well. She's notified us that she's enjoyed the conference thus far. It's her first so that's great to have her here, and she works on occupant protection with the Mississippi State Department of Health. So Darcelle, thank you for your contribution, and we're happy to have you here as a first time attendee. Scott, so excited to have you joining us today on a live recording of IVP in depth. So folks at home know who you are and tell us your name and where you're joining us from.

Scott Proescholdbell: 19:14

Thanks,Mighty, good to see you again and hear from you again. I'm Scott Proescholdbell. I'm the State Injury Epidemiologist and Unit Manager for the North Carolina Division of Public Health.

Mighty Fine: 19:24

Awesome again. Glad to have you here, and now we're in day three of the conference, and I just want to hear from you. How's it going so far you've presented. Have you attended? You know? How are you feeling about the conference thus far, and what would you like to share with those who are attending, and those who may be listening in that didn't get a chance to attend this year.

Scott Proescholdbell: 19:45

Well, I think it's been great so far. I mean, you know, I'm, I'm a huge fan. I think my first Safe States was in 2008 in Oklahoma City, and so I think I've been pretty consistent since then. I'm, I've probably missed a handful here and there, but, you know, I've. I've always enjoyed this conference. I really feel like, even though my background is epidemiology, and one of my other favorite conferences is CSTE, that I feel like between CSTE and Safe States, it kind of balances out, kind of the methodology and the and the programmatic kind of pieces, and so that's been, you know, really helpful to, you know, hear from presenters today and presenters from the beginning of this week. You know, I miss having it in person, of course, but I also realize that this is, you know, the reality that we're in this year, and it's great that we have such a fantastic number attending and listening in and at least some of the presentations that I was involved with had 40-50 people, which is, you know, sometimes in person you don't get anything along those lines. So, so yeah, it's been, it's been really great.

Mighty Fine: 20:49

Glad to hear that. And I'm like you, I remember attending in Oklahoma as well. And similar to you, I think I've been attending ever since, having attended another virtual meeting. And like you said, there's nothing that can really sort of replace the in person. Yet I do think that Safe States does a great job of still finding ways to get us to connect virtually and then having an opportunity to pop in on sessions and learning something new, making a new connection in the light. But yeah, so thank you. As always. Scott, great chatting with you, and before I let you go, is there anything else you'd like to share?

Scott Proescholdbell: 21:24

Nope, I think that hopefully people who attended will have benefited. And I think people who are not as familiar with injury and violence should attend if they if they don't, or hopefully some of their colleagues and friends will pass along some of the resources and information. And obviously, Safe States is a huge, important group for the folks who are doing Injury and Violence work across the nation, and obviously there's lots of advocacy and educational opportunities this year and into the future.

Mighty Fine: 21:51

Absolutely. Very well. Said. Thanks, Scott. Appreciate it.

Amy Schlotthauer: 22:05

Thanks, mighty. My name is Amy Schlotthauer. I am the owner of AES Consulting firm which works with groups to facilitate a problem that they're trying to solve. And I think my experience with the conference thus far has been great. As others have said, I was a little sad that it wasn't in person because I had such a great time last year in Portland, but I think that the way that Safe States offers a variety of different ways to interact and engage on the whova virtual platform, as well as providing suggestions via the conference bingo card, really helped me navigate different types of sessions to attend. So one particularly engaging session I went to was led by Sarah Davis of the Rocky Mountain Technical Assistance Center, and I could be getting that organization name wrong, but she did a really great interactive session on systems change, and that included small breakout groups where we were able to practice some of the skills that she presented on so that was a really great way to make some of the content more engaging and also skills applied.

Mighty Fine: 23:31

Absolutely we love the application and an opportunity to do it in real time. Yes, and I think you know, that's one of my joys of attending a Safe States Conference like I've shared with other guests in the past, you get to learn something new. You have opportunities to apply it in the moment. But I've actually, and I can't say this for every conference I've gone to, I've actually taken things that I've learned and applied it into my practice when I get back home. And I think that's one of the benefits of Safe States and having folks so connected, where they are approachable, they're willing to share, you can co create and showcase true tenants of partnership. So I'm glad that you got to experience that by way of having a very interesting, informative session and then ways to apply what you learned. So thank you, Amy for your feedback and insight, and I look forward to running into you in these virtual streets of this conference.

Joanne Miles-Holmes: 24:31

Thank you, my I'm Joanne Miles-Holmes. I'm the Injury Prevention Program Administrator at the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services in the Maternal and Child Health section, and I'm very much enjoying the conference. I got some good information. I can't remember which session it was from the. About the nfpa.org website for fire prevention information, which I plan to go and visit and and use some of their tools. And I agree with Amy that the systems thinking class was, I think, one of the best sessions I've attended so far this week, because I feel like I really practiced something, and I was very engaged, and they gave us a tool that we can work with. So I'm really excited to apply that tool to some work I'm going to be doing next year. I haven't been to an in person Safe States Conference for a very long time because none of my grants have set aside funding for me to go to this extra event. So I'm really excited that it's virtual, because I got permission to go to the virtual one, even though there was a registration fee. They're not worried about paying for airplanes and hotels and all that kind of stuff. So I got permission to attend, and they dug up money for me for just the registration fee. So I really, really appreciate the online opportunity to attend the conference, and I do miss seeing my peers and going to lunch and dinner with them in between, and having those side conversations that you have in person. But when you don't have the money or the permission to fly somewhere, virtual really works.

Mighty Fine: 26:17

Well, agree, yes, the virtual meeting does allow for others who traditionally can attend, to tap in and then you can go back and watch sessions. That's one of the things that I enjoy doing. So glad that you were able to join us this year, and hopefully they can find some money so you can come, when we return to being in person, and give me their number, I'll give them a call. Thank you again for your time, yeah, thank you again for your time and your perspective. Tracy, you presented and you've attended, tell us what some of the highlights have been for you thus far.

Joanne Miles-Holmes: 27:05

Yeah, thanks, mighty. I think for me, one of the things that I've really enjoyed about this is watching the kind of next generation of injury prevention professionals be able to present and share what they're doing with us. I went to a session yesterday on social media. It made me feel really old, but also it made me excited for what the next generation is bringing and how they're learning to talk to people in ways that maybe some of us that have been in the field for a really long time don't know. The other thing that I've been really excited to see is how much engagement is happening when we present in person. And we do these in person conferences, you do a talk, and maybe, like, two or three people can ask questions. But these sessions, I have seen so many questions and so many people engaging both during the event and after where they go back and talk to the presenters and ask questions. So I love that aspect of the virtual

Mighty Fine: 28:07

Yeah, I agree. And it shows that there's true engagement, and people are actually interested in the content being shared. And I also share your sentiment regarding watching, sort of the new cohort of injury and violence prevention folks come in and their innovation, their insight, the joy, the energy that they bring you. Know I love it. It makes me feel really good and proud that we are helping them to charter a path that one day, even if it needs to be soon, you can replace me. I can grow up higher, right? You know, I'll support from the sidelines. But in all seriousness, I agree that is, it's really great to see, and I really sound like a, I'll say, well seasoned professional, the how much they have accomplished in the short span of their careers. And, you know, it's just very even as someone who's been in the field for a couple of decades, it's still inspirational to me to see them and and watch them flourish in this field. So certainly agree with you on that. Victoria, welcome. Tell us how your experience has been. So

Victoria Broussard: 29:29

it is amazing. I am so happy that I far, finally got to attend. I was going to try to attend in person, but this year, attending virtually allowed me to attend and engage more. And what I will say is I share. I got my start in injury and violence prevention and occupant restraint and Child Passenger Safety, and a few years ago, my primary job was not related to injury and violence prevention, but I'm still in public health. So for the past, over. For five years, every program that I've worked in in health equity Safe States has helped me keep my ear to the streets and incorporate injury and violence prevention into everything that we have done in health equity, where we have invited persons to speak that work in injury and violence prevention. Connected Communities. We just had an event in New Orleans, and because I kind of was like, hey, maybe we could incorporate some IVP into this, the New Orleans Health Department came and spoke to our partners about their program, their gun violence program, and then they met people. So although it's not my primary role anymore. So the conference, I always take things back, or I look at what's going on. So um, this conference for me, I have a whole lot of nuggets that might have turned into a chicken tender. We love that just about working and resilience because of IVP. It's just at the core of what we do in public health and community in some way, whether it's physical, emotional or mental. And so it just holds a special place in my heart and this conference, seeing everyone, although I'm pulled away from it, in my primary role, just seeing names that I've seen over the years through safe state, southeast and southwest Injury Prevention Network, it confirms what we do. It validates what we do. It lets us know there's more work to be done. But then it's also good to see the people doing it and being in space with everyone

Mighty Fine: 31:39

Absolutely totally agree with being able to connect on topics that you traditionally don't work in, but still making it applicable to your work or helping with partners. So I agree it's it's a great thread that's woven through Safe States, that everybody can get something from it and we share what we learn, right? So thank you, Victoria, another for another person who was able to join us virtually and in person, you may not have been able to gather those nuggets, so we are glad that you were able to participate. Lynnsey, tell us your takeaways so far, and thanks for joining us. And where are you calling in from?

Lynnsey O'Rourke: 32:27

Hey, Mighty I'm calling in from Baltimore, Maryland,

Mighty Fine: 32:31

My neighbor. Oh, I'm in DC.

Lynnsey O'Rourke: 32:34

Love it. I used to live in DC as well. Love the DMV. This conference has been great for me. This is my first ever Safe States Conference, and I am joining as staff. So I joined SAFE states as a program coordinator back in December, and it's just been such a really wonderful opportunity for me to connect with more Safe States members and other members of the IBP field. Of course, there are faces that I recognize and I'm really excited to see, but also great to connect with some new folks as well. And I also joined as a speaker this year. And so

Mighty Fine: 33:13

Let me just add it all in. Speaker, first time attendee, virtual. I'm doing it all,

Lynnsey O'Rourke: 33:20

Yeah, which is really, really fun. And I would love to shout out my co presenter, Carla class, we gave a learning lab talk on interactive trainings and creating engaging presentations. Oh, my God, thanks, Victoria.

Mighty Fine: 33:36

Yeah, for folks not watching. Oh, just to give folks a visual, there are people in the virtual room who attended that session, and they're giving Lindsay a thumbs up, because it went really well. So kudos to you for that.

Lynnsey O'Rourke: 33:48

Thanks, Mighty. We will be releasing all of the recordings for all of the presentations given throughout the conference in October to plug that one and and Carla, she used one of the tools that we were teaching on to create an AI version of pink pony club by chapel Roan about safe driving. So go check that out. Check out.

Mighty Fine: 34:15

I definitely I missed that, but I'm definitely gonna check it out, because that's a very catchy song. So that was very prudent to use that to sort of to plant the lyrics with messaging for injury, violence prevention. I'm definitely going to check that one.

Lynnsey O'Rourke: 34:32

It's going to be the next hit. Okay?

Mighty Fine: 34:35

I believe it. I support it. I will stream it. Thanks. Lynnsey, great having you. Jessica, you have joined us. Want to hear from you indeed.

Jessica Ritter: 34:55

Hello, it's glad. I'm glad to be here. I'm glad to see so. Many people too, I think so. This is not my first time at the Safe States Conference. I am calling in from Gettysburg, PA, so I'm actually very within driving distance of Lindsay and mighty, right? Dang. We could have done this in person. But one of my favorite things about the Safe States Conference every time it almost feels like coming home, like, that's the really like, you know, touchy feely version that gets in my mind is every time I come into this space with everyone else that's a part of Safe States, I'm like, oh yeah. Like, these are my people. I belong here. And like, let's grow that. And so even virtually, I'm still feeling that way, which is really nice, because I was uncertain if that could come through virtually. But like other people have said, you know, there's, there's been so much engagement, there's been so much wisdom and nuggets, and so it's been, it's been a really awesome experience.

Mighty Fine: 36:01

Yeah, I totally agree. I often liken it to a family reunion. In my family, I have a very big family. You have a family reunion every year. We get the T shirts and you know, you communicate with family members through what I'll say, I communicate with majority of my family members throughout the year. However, when you're have a dedicated time and space to actually connect sometimes even people you've known for years. You find having 1015, 20 additional minutes with them, it can deepen that relationship in that brief moment. And to your point, I feel like that happens oftentimes at Safe States, where I'm like, I thought you were cool, but now you are really cool because I've had an opportunity to know you a little deeper, so that resonates with me certainly as well. Thanks again for joining us in this special edition of IVP INdepth, and I want to give a big thank you to our sponsors, the American Trauma Society, Baby Safety Alliance, Brass Ring Communications, Children's Safety Network and Society for Advancement of Violence and Injury Research. We want to thank them for supporting our podcast and this conversation today, and more importantly, for their commitment to injury and violence prevention. And if you aren't already a member of Safe States, now's the perfect time to join be a part of a community working to create safer, healthier communities for everyone, and then you too can be at our conference next year. Check out our website, safestates.org for a range of resources, including toolkits, training opportunities and other useful information designed to support your work in the field. And please don't forget to hit that subscribe button so you never miss an episode, whether on Apple or Spotify. And while you're at it, leave us a review and let us know how we're doing as always. Thanks for tuning in, and we'll see you next time. Until then, stay safe and injury free.