Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Transcription

1 Child Injury Prevention in the United States: Protect the Ones You Love Michele Huitric, MPH ational Center for Injury Prevention and Control Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention February 24, 2009

2 Global Issue of Child Injury Approximately 830,000 children under 18 years die every year as a result of an unintentional injury. Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death for children over 9 years. Tens of millions of children require hospital care every year for non-fatal injuries.

3 World Report on Child Injury Prevention Burns and scalds Drowning Falls Poisoning Road traffic injuries

4 Cause of Death by Injury Status and Intent* among Children 1 to 19 Years, United States,

5 Fatal Childhood Injuries in the United States On average, 12,175 children 0 to 19 years of age died each year in the U.S. from an unintentional injury. Injuries due to transportation were the leading cause of death for children.

6 Fatal Childhood Injuries in the United States Leading causes of injury death differed by age group. < 1 year of age: Two-thirds of injury deaths were due to suffocation. 1 to 4 years of age: Drowning was the leading cause injury death. 5 to 19 years of age: Majority of injury deaths were due to being an occupant in a motor vehicle traffic crash.

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8 Nonfatal Childhood Injuries in the United States An estimated 9.2 million children annually had an initial emergency department visit for an unintentional injury. Injuries due to falls were the leading cause of nonfatal injury. Each year, approximately 2.8 million children had an initial emergency department visit for injuries from a fall. For children less than 1 year of age, falls accounted for over 50% of nonfatal injuries.

9 Nonfatal Childhood Injuries in the United States Nonfatal injury rates varied by age group. Nonfatal suffocation rates were highest for those less than 1 year of age. Rates for fires or burns, and drowning were highest for children 4 years and younger. Children 1 to 4 years of age had the highest rates of nonfatal falls and poisoning. Injury rates related to motor vehicles was highest in children 15 to 19 years of age.

10 Parents Can Help Keep Children Safe from Injuries

11 Protect the Ones You Love: Child Injuries Are Preventable CDC s Childhood Injury Report Communications Materials Print Electronic Website: Next Steps

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13 Recommendations: Burns Install and maintain smoke alarms in your home. Develop and practice a family fire escape plan. Set your water heater s thermostat to 120 degrees Fahrenheit or lower. Use safe cooking practices, such as never leaving food unattended on the stove.

14 Recommendations: Drowning Install a 4-sided isolation fence, with self-closing and self-latching gates, around backyard swimming pools. Wear life jackets (personal flotation devices) in and around natural bodies of water. Learn cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and get recertified every two years. Supervise young children at all times around bathtubs, swimming pools, and natural bodies of water.

15 Recommendations: Falls Use playground equipment that is properly designed and maintained and that has a safe, soft landing surface below. Use home safety devices, such as guards on windows that are located above groundlevel, stair gates, and guard rails. Wear protective gear when playing active sports, such as wrist guards, knee and elbow pads, and helmets when in-line skating. Supervise young children at all times around fall hazards, such as stairs and playground equipment.

16 Recommendations: Poisonings Store medicines and toxic products, such as cleaning solutions, in locked or childproof cabinets. Put the poison control number, , on or near every home telephone. Follow label directions and read all warnings when giving medicines to children. Safely dispose of unused, unneeded, or expired prescription drugs.

17 Recommendations: Road Traffic Injuries Use seat belts, child safety seats and booster seats as appropriate for your child's age and weight. If you have a teen driver, sign an agreement to limit risky teen driving situations, such as multiple teen passengers and driving at night. Have children ride in the back seat. Wear motorcycle and bike helmets.

18 Communications Materials Website: One-pagers (overview and topic-specific) Posters Flyers Podcasts E-cards Media planning guide Event planning guide State-specific and national injury data

19 ext Steps: We know what to do. But no one group can do it alone.

20 Participating Organizations American Academy of Pediatrics American Association of Poison Control Centers Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs Children s Safety Network National Resource Center Colorado Injury Control Research Center* Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Fireproof Children Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Maternal and Child Health Bureau Home Safety Council Johns Hopkins University, Department of International Health, Injury Research Unit Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene* National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies (NACCRRA) National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO)

21 Participating Organizations National Fire Protection Association National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Parents Magazine Prevention 1st Foundation Safe Kids Worldwide Safe Routes to School National Partnership Society for Advancement of Violence and Injury Research (SAVIR) Society for Public Health Education, Unintentional Injury and Violence Prevention State and Territorial Injury Prevention Directors Association (STIPDA) University of Iowa Injury Prevention Research Center University of North Carolina Injury Prevention Research Center

22 Working together, we can keep our children safe and help them live to their full potential.

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24 World Report: Key Approaches to Addressing Child Injuries Legislation and enforcement Product modification Environmental modification Supportive home visits Safety devices Education, skills and behavior change Emergency medical care

25 World Report: Recommendations Integrate child injury into a comprehensive approach to child health and development Develop and implement a child injury prevention policy and a plan of action Implement specific actions to prevent and control child injuries Strengthen health systems to address child injuries Enhance the quality and quantity of data for child injury prevention Define and support priorities for research Raise awareness on and target investments towards child injury prevention