UMEM Educational Pearls

Category: International EM

Title: Unintentional Injuries- A Global Cause of Pediatric Deaths

Keywords: Children, unintentional injuries, burns, drownings, falls, road crashes, poisoning (PubMed Search)

Posted: 4/16/2015 by Jon Mark Hirshon, MD, MPH, PhD (Updated: 5/6/2015)
Click here to contact Jon Mark Hirshon, MD, MPH, PhD

In 2011, approximately 630,00 children under 15 died from unintentional injuries. Injuries are the leading cause of childhood deaths in children over 9 years old.  Ninety-five percent of these childhood injuries occur in lower- and middle-income countries.

 

The 2008 World Report on Child Injury Prevention listed the following as the top five causes of pediatric injury deaths globally:

1)   Road Crashes- approximately 260,000/year

2)   Drowning- approximately 175,0000/year

3)   Burns- approximately 96,000/year

4)   Falls- approximately 47,000/year

5)   Poisoning (unintentional)- approximately 45,000/year

 

Many of these deaths occur around the home and could be prevented through proven prevention measures, which include:

·      Child appropriate seatbelts and helmets

·      Separate children from vehicular traffic

·      Limit hot tap water temperature

·      Placing medications and potentially harmful household products in child proof containers

·      Draining unnecessary water from baths and buckets

·      Redesigning nursery furniture, toys and playground equipment

·      Strengthening emergency medical services

References

http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/child/injury/en/

http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/child/injury/world_report/report/en/