Annual meeting addresses infant, child deaths in St. Joseph County

-
2:41
South Bend History Museum and Indiana Landmarks reveal historical...
-
1:11
Stretch of sunshine continues and temperatures warm next week
-
1:55
Students back in the stands for Notre Dame basketball game
-
2:47
BK drive-in back open for business
-
1:21
Michigan expands vaccine eligibility to 50+
-
4:30
Vaccine hesitancy among religious groups over use of fetal tissue...
-
1:06
Still sunny, but cooler end of the week
-
2:07
Howard Park hopes to keep skating season going
-
2:08
Hoosiers age 50 and older now eligible for COVID-19 vaccine
-
1:05
The one with the Shedd Aquarium penguins
-
2:40
Construction projects to expect and how to drive safely this...
ST.JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. — St. Joseph County’s Child Fatality Review Team held its annual meeting Wednesday morning.
The meeting occurred at the St. Joseph County Jail on May 15 at 8 a.m.
CFRT is comprised of volunteers including representatives from health care providers, law enforcement, the county’s health department, coroner, fire, EMS, the prosecutor’s office and the Department of Child Services.
The purpose of the team is to review infant and child deaths in the county. The team is tasked with determining whether any death patterns exist or if any of the deaths were preventable.
This year’s meeting discussed gun deaths, sleep-related deaths from 2017 as well as dating violence.
At the meeting, officials said the most frequent cause of infant deaths over the last few years were complications from premature births.
“Prematurity is the leading cause but eleven is a higher than expected number for us on sleep deaths which is another high cause of infant mortality,” Review Team Chair Betsy McCue said.
Officials reviewed a total of 18 cases: 10 involved teens, six involved children and two involved infants. Last year, one infant died from sudden infant death syndrome, officials say.