INJURY 101

  UNINTENTIONAL INJURY

   VIOLENCE/ 
  INTENTIONAL INJURY

   REFERENCES

Injury 101

Unintentional Injury

An injury which is judged to have occurred without anyone intending that harm be done (Rice et al., 1989).  Injuries that were unplanned, not intended to happen, such as motor vehicle crashes, fires and drownings (Maine Injury Prevention Web site).

Facts on Unintentional Injuries

Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death in the United States for people aged 1-44 (CDC, 2006). In 2002, unintentional injuries accounted for more than 106,000 deaths in the U.S. and more than 27 million emergency department visits (CDC, 2004) (Doll et al., 2006).

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Motor Vehicle-Related Injuries

• Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of injury death in the United States for people aged 1-34 (CDC, 2006).
• In 2003, 42,643 people died on the nation's roads and highways, and nearly 3 million suffered nonfatal injuries (NHTSA, 2004a).
• In the United States, 3,355 occupants ages 65 and older died in motor vehicle crashes during 2004 (CDC, 2006).

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Childhood Passenger Safety

• In the United States during 2005, 1,451 children ages 14 years and younger died as occupants in motor vehicle crashes, and approximately 203,000 were injured. That's an average of 4 deaths and 556 injuries each day (NHTSA, 2006b).
• Child restraint systems are often used incorrectly. One study found that 72% of nearly 3,500 observed child restraint systems were misused in a way that could be expected to increase a child's risk of injury during a crash (NHTSA, 2006c).
• All children ages 12 years and younger should ride in the back seat. This eliminates the injury risk of deployed front passenger-side airbags and places children in the safest part of the vehicle in the event of a crash. Overall, for children less than 16 years, riding in the back seat is associated with a 40% reduction in the risk of serious injury. Appropriately restrained children ages 13 to 15 who sit in the front seat are not at increased risk for injury (Durbin et al. 2005). To learn more about effective interventions to increase child safety seat use, visit CDC's Motor Vehicle Occupant Safety

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Teen Drivers

• The risk of motor vehicle crashes is higher among 16- to 19-year-olds than among any other age group. In fact, per mile driven, teen drivers ages 16 to 19 are four times more likely than older drivers to crash (IIHS, 2006).
• Persons aged 15 to 24, who represent only 14% of the U.S. population, account for 30% ($19 billion) of the total costs of motor vehicle injuries among males and 28% ($7 billion) of the total costs of motor vehicle injuries among females (Finkelstein et al. 2006).

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Older Adult Drivers

• Drivers ages 80 and older have higher crash death rates per mile driven than all but teen drivers (IIHS, 2006).
• Older drivers who are injured in motor vehicle crashes are more likely than younger drivers to die from their injuries (IIHS, 2006).

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Impaired Driving

• During 2007, 12,998 people in the U.S. died in alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes, representing 32% of all traffic-related deaths. (NHTSA, 2007).
• In 2006, an estimated 30.5 million people (12.4 percent) aged 12 or older reported driving under the influence of alcohol at least once in the past year. (NIDA, 2008)
• Alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes kill someone every 31 minutes and nonfatally injure someone every two minutes (NHTSA, 2006).
• Each year, alcohol-related crashes in the United States cost about $51 billion (Blincoe et al. 2002).

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Pedestrian Injuries

• In the United States, 4,641 pedestrians died from traffic-related injuries in 2004, and another 68,000 sustained nonfatal injuries (NHTSA, 2005).
• Nearly one-fifth of the traffic fatalities among children ages 5-9 years were sustained by pedestrians (NHTSA, 2005).

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Bicycle and Motorcycles

• In 2005, 784 bicyclists died which accounted for 2 percent of all traffic fatalities during the year (NHSTA, 2005).
• Nearly one-fifth of the pedal cyclists killed in traffic crashes in 2005 were between 5 and 15 years old (NHTSA, 2005).
• Bicycle helmets reduce the risk of head injury by 85% and risk of brain injury by 88%, yet only 20-25% of all bicyclists wear helmets (NSKC, 2004; NHSTA, 2005).
• It was estimated that helmets saved 1,546 motorcyclists' lives in 2005, and that 728 more could have been saved if all motorcyclists had worn helmets (NHTSA, 2005).
• Per vehicle mile, motorcyclists are about 34 times more likely than passenger car occupants to die in a traffic crash (NHTSA, 2005).

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Alcohol Abuse and Underage Drinking

• Adults age 21 or older who had first used alcohol before age 21 were more likely than adults who had their first drink at age 21 or older to be classified with alcohol dependence or abuse (9.6% vs. 2.1%) (SAMHSA National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2005).
• About two fifths of students (41%) have consumed alcohol (more than just a few sips) by 8th grade (Monitoring the Future, 2005).
• One out of four of all occupant deaths among children ages 0 to 14 years involve a drinking driver. More than two-thirds of these fatally injured children ride with the drinking drivers (Shults, 2004).
• Alcohol misuse is now the leading risk factor for serious injury in the United States, and the third leading cause of preventable death. It accounts for more than 75,000 deaths annually (CDC, 2008).

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Residential Fires

• On average in the United States in 2006, someone died in a fire about every 2.5 hours (162 minutes), and someone was injured every 32 minutes (Karter, 2007).
• In 2006, fire departments responded to 412,500 home fires in the United States, which claimed the lives of 2,580 people (not including firefighters) and injured another 12,925, not including firefighters (Karter, 2007).
• Approximately half of home fire deaths occur in homes without smoke alarms (Ahrens, 2004).
• Groups at increased risk of fire-related injuries and deaths include: Children 4 and under (CDC 1998); Older Adults ages 65 and older (CDC 1998); African Americans and Native Americans (CDC 1998); The poorest Americans (Istre 2001); Persons living in rural areas (Ahrens 2003); Persons living in manufactured homes or substandard housing (Runyan 1992; Parker 1993).

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Fireworks

• In 2005, four persons died and an estimated 10,800 were treated in emergency departments for fireworks-related injuries in the United States (Greene & Joholske, 2006).
• About 45% of persons injured from fireworks were children ages 14 years and younger andmales were injured by fireworks more than twice as often as females (Greene & Joholske, 2006).
• Firecrackers (26%), sparklers (17%), and rockets (17%) accounted for most of the injuries seen in emergency departments (Greene & Joholske, 2006).

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Drowning

• In 2004, there were 3,308 unintentional fatal drownings in the United States, averaging nine people per day. This figure does not include the 676 fatalities, from drowning and other causes, due to boating-related incidents (CDC 2006; USCG 2006).
• In 2004, of all children 1-4 years old who died, 26% died from drowning (CDC, 2006). Although drowning rates have slowly declined (Branche, 1999), fatal drowning remains the second-leading cause of unintentional injury-related death for children ages 1 to 9 years (CDC, 2006).
• In 2005, the U.S. Coast Guard received reports for 4,969 boating incidents; 3,451 participants were reported injured, and 697 died in boating incidents. Among those who drowned, 87% were not wearing life jackets. jackets (U.S. Coast Guard, 2006).

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Choking

• In 2000, 160 children ages 14 years or younger died from an obstruction of the respiratory tract due to inhaled or ingested foreign bodies. Of these, 41% were caused by food items and 59% by nonfood objects (CDC, 2006).
• 60% of these events were associated with food items, 31% were associated with nonfood objects including coins, and in 9% of the episodes the substance was unknown or unrecorded. (CDC, 2006)
• For every choking-related death, there are more than 100 visits to U.S. emergency departments. In 2001, an estimated 17,537 children 14 years or younger were treated in U.S. emergency departments for choking episodes. (CDC, 2006)

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Poisoning

• Over two-thirds of accidental childhood poisoning emergency room visits are attributed to prescription and over-the-counter drugs, which is more than twice the rate of visits due to consumer product poisonings. (CDC, 2009).
• In 2006, poison control centers reported about two million unintentional poisoning or poison exposure cases (Bronstein et al. 2007).
• Among people who unintentionally poisoned themselves, received treatment in emergency departments and survived in 2006: men were 1.5 times more likely than women and the highest rates were in the 40-49 year old age group (CDC, 2008).

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Airway Obstruction

• For infants less than one year old, airway obstruction (suffocation, choking, or strangulation) is the leading cause of unintentional injury related death (NSKC, 2004).
• In 2001, 864 children ages 14 or younger died from unintentional airway obstruction injuries- 87% of those were aged 4 or younger (NSKC, 2004).
• A majority of infant suffocation occurs in the sleeping environment- when infants' faces are wedged against the mattress, a pillow, soft bedding, or if someone rolls over onto them (NSKC, 2004).
• Food items, such as hot dogs, candies, nuts, grapes, etc, cause the majority of childhood choking injuries (NSKC, 2004).
• Children ages 4 and younger, male low- income nonwhite children, and children placed in adult beds have the greatest risk of suffering from unintentional airway obstruction related injuries and deaths (NSKC, 2004).

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Falls

• More than one third of adults 65 and older fall each year in the United States (Hornbrook et al. 1994; Hausdorff et al. 2001).
• In 2005, 15,800 people 65 and older died from injuries related to unintentional falls; about 1.8 million people 65 and older were treated in emergency departments for nonfatal injuries from falls, and more than 433,000 of these patients were hospitalized (CDC, 2008).
• Among older adults, falls are the leading cause of injury deaths. They are also the most common cause of nonfatal injuries and hospital admissions for trauma (CDC, 2006).

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Playground Safety

• Each year in the United States, emergency departments treat more than 200,000 children ages 14 and younger for playground-related injuries (Tinsworth 2001).
• About 45% of playground-related injuries are severe-fractures, internal injuries, concussions, dislocations, and amputations (Tinsworth 2001).
• Between 1990 and 2000, 147 children ages 14 and younger died from playground-related injuries. Of them, 82 (56%) died from strangulation and 31 (20%) died from falls to the playground surface. Most of these deaths (70%) occurred on home playgrounds (Tinsworth 2001).
• In 1995, playground-related injuries among children ages 14 and younger cost an estimated $1.2 billion (Office of Technology Assessment 1995).

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References

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