Childhood Accidents and Their Prevention

Magnitude and Scope of the Problem  Three persons will die and about four hundred fifty persons will suffer injury from accidental causes in the United States during the course of this presentation.Ninety-two thousand (92,000) persons died from accidents last year and more than 9,200,000 injuries were reported in the United States in the same period. One-third of the injuries resulted in permanent damage. The cost in life and property exceeded ten billion dollars.Fourteen thousand fatalities occurred in children under 15 years of age. Twenty-seven thousand five hundred (27,500) deaths and more than four million injuries resulted from home accidents. Of those killed in home accidents, 5700, or more than 20%, were children under 5 years old.¹Accidents are the leading cause of death from 1 to 34 years and the fourth leading cause in persons of all ages. It ranks seventh in the under-one-year age group. More