HELENA — Friday is Montana’s first Ten-4 Day, proclaimed by Governor Greg Gianforte. Aside from the numerical meaning it also represents the clinical decision tool to help identify non-accidental injuries in children. Ten refers to bruises on the torso, ears, and neck and the four represents children four-years-old and younger.
Bruises are among the most common injuries that children sustain, but it is often difficult to know which bruises were caused by accident, versus bruises that were caused by non-accidental trauma or physical abuse. The designation of October 4th aims to educate and bring awareness to child abuse and how to identify it.
Laurie Carter of the Montana Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatric Child Abuse says, “Child physical abuse is under-reported to the best of our understanding and the reason it may be under-reported is because people are not able to recognize the difference between accidental trauma versus non-accidental trauma."
Ten-4 Day honors the importance of recognizing bruises and injuries on young children and emphasizes the importance of training adults to recognize, report, and prevent child abuse.
