First-Ever Childhood Summer Safety Report
Injury Free Coalition for Kids
Date: Mon, Apr 30, 2007
Time: 11 am EST
Location: Lexington, KY
Organizer/Sponsor: Kentucky Children's Hospital/SAFE KIDS Kentucky
Kentucky Ranks Poorly in First-Ever Childhood Summer Safety Report Media Contact: Mary Margaret Colliver [mcolliv@email.uky.edu?subject=[NEWS] RE:Kentucky Ranks Poorly in First-Ever Childhood Summer Safety Report], (859) 361-1887 LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 30, 2007) − Kentucky had more children killed in summertime accidents than nearly every state in the nation in 2004 according to the first-ever U.S. ranking of summertime children's deaths. According to the report, released today by Safe Kids Worldwide [http://news.uky.edu/news/], only Wyoming, Alaska, South Dakota, West Virginia and Nebraska fared worse than the Bluegrass state.
“This is unacceptable, especially given that nearly all of these fatal injuries are preventable,” said Sherri Hannan, coordinator of Safe Kids Fayette County. “We hope this ranking will alert parents, caregivers and policymakers to take our injury prevention messages to heart.”
Release of this study coincides with the kick-off of National Safe Kids Week, themed "Make It a Safe Kids Summer," and the start of what is known by emergency personnel as “trauma season,” because it is the time of year when accidental deaths and serious injuries to children increase dramatically.
The five states with the least number of deaths in children were all found in the northeast – Vermont, New Jersey, the District of Columbia, New York and Delaware.
“Sadly, Kentucky does not have a good ranking,” said Dr. Tim Bricker, physician-in-chief at Kentucky Children’s Hospital. ”As a Level One trauma center, our hospital is prepared to care for pediatric and adult victims of serious accidents. However, as health care providers, our primary message is one of prevention. Programs based at UK such as Safe Kids Fayette County, the Injury Free Coalition for Kids and UK HealthCare's Trauma Service Injury Prevention Program provide education and service in hopes of preventing such tragedies from occurring.”
All 50 states and the District of Columbia were ranked according to the number of summertime accidental injury deaths per 100,000 children (ages 0 to 14) in their state, and the change in that rate over a five-year period.
The study reports that 2,143 children across the nation died from May to August 2004 due to injuries, many of which could have been prevented. Emergency room visits due to accidental injuries were made by 2.4 million children, during that same time period, many of which resulted in paralysis, brain damage and other serious disabilities.
“Taking care of injured children is one of the toughest aspects of our job as pediatric specialists,” said Dr. Joseph Iocono, pediatric surgeon and chief of pediatric trauma services at Kentucky Children’s Hospital. “Entire families experience a trauma when their child is injured. It is especially difficult when the injury is one which we know could have been prevented. Parents, grandparents and caregivers can make a significant difference by taking simple precautions like making children wear helmets and appropriate seat belts.”
Previous Safe Kids Worldwide research indicates that five of the most common causes of children’s accidental injury deaths in summer are: Drowning (increases 89 percent in the summer over the annual monthly average) Biking (increases 45 percent) Falls (increases 21 percent) Motor vehicle passenger injuries (increases 20 percent) Pedestrian injuries (increases 16 percent).
In fact, almost 60 percent of total children’s accidental injury deaths during summer from 2001 to 2004 came from these risk areas.
“The results should be a wake-up call to the states and the nation,” said Dr. Martin Eichelberger, chairman of Safe Kids Worldwide and director, Emergency and Burn Services at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. “When a child dies every few hours from an accidental summer injury, many of which can be prevented, we have our work cut out for us.”
Safe Kids Kentucky recommends the following steps to reduce accidental injury and death to children during the summer months: Enact child safety legislation such as four-sided fencing around home pools and booster seat requirements; Educate adults and children about the right precautions to take (for example, a properly-fitted helmet has proven to reduce the risk of brain injury by as much as 88 percent); Use safety devices, such as installing window guards on each window above the first floor to reduce the risk of falls; and Strengthen the enforcement of existing child safety laws.
Underwritten by an educational grant from Johnson & Johnson, founding sponsor of Safe Kids Worldwide, the study was conducted by The Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation in collaboration with an expert advisory panel.
For more information, please visit the Safe Kids USA website [http://news.uky.edu/news/] or contact Safe Kids Fayette County at (859) 323-1153.
Contact Information
Injury Free Coalition for Kids of Lexington (859) 323-6194
For more information, please visit the Safe Kids USA website [http://news.uky.edu/news/] or contact Safe Kids Fayette County at (859) 323-1153.