Abstract â–¡ 29

One of the projects developed by the Maori and Pacific SIDS Prevention Teams is an accurate, complete and up to date register of SIDS deaths. This presentation will delineate the background issues in the SIDS environment in New Zealand and attempts to capture the complexities and the multiplicity of outcomes that arose from a single number crunching exercise.

In Aotearoa/New Zealand the initial risk factor based SIDS prevention campaign halved the overall SIDS incidence in the population but failed to reduce SIDS in (indigenous) Maori and Pacific communities. In developing a community based register of SIDS deaths we have been able to accurately and target these at risk populations for intense health education and prevention strategies.

In disseminating SIDS research findings back to the community, we became aware of a complexity of issues dealing with SIDS families which need to be attended to if prevention is going to be effective, and are vital in order to do further research safely. In co-ordinating the many agencies involved at the time of a SIDS occurrence it is necessary to balance the fine interplay of ethical, legal, social and particularly cultural factors. A successful response requires a more integrated and holistic model of care. Protocols have been developed to link police, coroners, pathologists, ambulance officers, paediatricians, community health workers and SIDS families. In collating reports from the death scene, the autopsy, the primary care health workers and the families themselves and feeding this to national review team, it is possible to capture emerging trends. This information acts to improve services and to stimulate questions for further research.