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Unintentional Childhood Injuries

See Also
Epidemiology
1. Incidence of unintentional childhood injury in U.S.
  1. Non-fatal injuries per year: >20 million
  2. Fatal unintentional injuries per year: >11,000
Causes of serious unintentional injury
1. Fatal injuries
  1. Motor vehicle accidents (33% of toddler deaths)
  2. Drowning (25% of toddler deaths)
  3. Burn Injury
  4. Structure fires
  5. Suffocation (SIDS, sleep surface related in infants)
2. Non-fatal injuries requiring hospitalization
  1. Falls (Infant Walkers, stairs, out of windows)
  2. Poisonings
  3. Scald burns
  4. Motor vehicle accidents
  5. Bicycle accident
  6. Pedestrian accidents
Prevention
1. Infants
  1. See SIDS for prevention
  2. Use window gaurds
  3. Do not use Infant Walkers
2. Toddlers
  1. See Child Safety Seat
  2. Prevent Drownings
    1. Fencing should completely surround all pools
    2. Consider all water bodies a risk
      1. Do not leave age under 3 years unattended
      2. Risks: Ponds, streams, buckets, kiddie pools
  3. Prevent burn injury
    1. Set all hot water heaters to maximum of 130 degrees
    2. Matches should be stored out of reach
    3. Talk about smoke alarm with child
  4. Prevent Poisonings by locking these out of reach
    1. Ipecac is not effective
3. School age children
  1. Prevent motor vehicle accident injuries
    1. See Child Safety Seat and Seat Belts
    2. Do not ride in cargo area of pickup truck
    3. No off-road vehicles or law mower use <16 years old
  2. Use protective gear for activities
    1. Bicycle helmets
    2. Protective gear in downhill skiing, snow boarding
    3. Protective gear in skateboarding and Inline Skating
4. Adolescents
  1. Prevent motor vehicle accident injuries
    1. Wear Seat Belts always
    2. Risks: Speeding, tailgating and nighttime driving
References
1. Cohen (1997) Pediatrics 99:704
2. Schnitzer (2006) Am Fam Physician 74:1864

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This page was written by Scott Moses, MD. This page was last revised before 5/10/08, prior to consistent tracking of revision date. This page was last published on 2/26/2010. Please send comments and questions to the editor. Contact information may be found on the page About the Family Practice Notebook. These pages are best viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0.