8.13: Injuries

Injuries are a big part of child safety, and preventable accidents in childhood.

Infancy

There are different risks to infant safety. According to the CDC, nonfatal injury rates varied by age group.

• Nonfatal suffocation rates were highest for those less than 1 year of age.
• Rates for fires or burns, and drowning were highest for children 4 years and younger.
• Children 1 to 4 years of age had the highest rates of nonfatal falls and poisoning.

And the leading causes of injury death also differed by age group.

• For children less than 1 year of age, two–thirds of injury deaths were due to suffocation.
• Drowning was the leading cause of injury or death for those 1 to 4 years of age.[1]

Car seat safety

Motor vehicle injuries are a leading cause of death among children in the United States. But many of these deaths can be prevented.

• In the United States, 723 children ages 12 years and younger died as occupants in motor vehicle crashes during 2016, and more than 128,000 were injured in 2016.
• One CDC study found that, in one year, more than 618,000 children ages 0-12 rode in vehicles without the use of a child safety seat or booster seat or a seat belt at least some of the time.
• Of the children ages 12 years and younger who died in a crash in 2016 (for which restraint use was known), 35% were not buckled up.[2]

Buckling children in age- and size-appropriate car seats, booster seats, and seat belts reduces the risk of serious and fatal injuries:

• Car seat use reduces the risk for injury in a crash by 71-82% for children when compared to seat belt use alone.
• Booster seat use reduces the risk for serious injury by 45% for children aged 4–8 years when compared with seat belt use alone.
• For older children and adults, seat belt use reduces the risk for death and serious injury by approximately half.[3]

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): The different types of car seats based on age – from 0-24/48 months a rear facing car seat is best, forward facing carseats to be used till at least age 5, and then a booster seat to be used till age 9-12 years or until a seat belt fits properly.[4]

Early childhood

Child injuries are preventable, yet more than 9,000 children (from 0-19 years) died from injuries in the US in 2009. Car crashes, suffocation, drowning, poisoning, fires, and falls are some of the most common ways children are hurt or killed. The number of children dying from injury dropped nearly 30% over the last decade. However, injury is still the number 1 cause of death among children.[5]

Children during early childhood are more at risk for certain injuries. Using data from 2000-2006, the CDC determined that:

• Drowning was the leading cause of injury death between 1 and 4 years of age.
• Falls were the leading cause of nonfatal injury for all age groups less than 15.
• For children ages 0 to 9, the next two leading causes were being struck by or against an object and animal bites or insect stings.
• Rates for fires or burns, and drowning were highest for children 4 years and younger.[6]

Here is a table summarizing some tips from the CDC to protect children from these injuries:

Preventing childhood injuries

Type of Injury	Prevention Tips
Burns	Have smoke alarms on every floor and in all rooms people sleep in Involve children in creating and practicing an escape plan Never leave food cooking on the stove unattended; supervise any use of microwave Make sure the water heater is set to 120 degrees or lower[7]
Drowning	Make sure caregivers are trained in CPR Fence off pools; gates should be self-closing and self-latching Have children wear life jackets in and around natural bodies of water Supervise children in or near water (including the bathtub)[8]
Falls	Make sure playground surfaces are safe, soft, and made of impact absorbing material (such as wood chips or sand) at an appropriate depth and are well maintained Use safety devices (such as window guards) Make sure children are wearing protective gear during sports and recreation (such as bicycle helmets) Supervise children around fall hazards at all times[9]
Poisoning	Lock up all medications and toxic products (such as cleaning solutions and detergents) in original packaging out of sight and reach of children Know the number to poison control (1-800-222-1222) Read and follow labels of all medications Safely dispose of unused, unneeded, or expired prescription drugs and over the counter drugs, vitamins, and supplements[10]
Motor-accident, in vehicle	Children should still be safely restrained in a five point harnessed car seat Children should be in back seat Children should not be seated in front of an airbag
Motor-accident, pedestrian	Teach children about safety including: o Walking on the sidewalk o Not assuming vehicles see you or will stop o Crossing only in crosswalks o Looking both ways before crossing o Never playing in the road o Not crossing a road without an adult Supervise children near all roadways and model safe behavior[11]

Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\): Park equipment needs to be tested for safety of small children who might play there.[12]

Attributions:

Child Growth and Development by Jennifer Paris, Antoinette Ricardo, and Dawn Rymond, 2019, is licensed under CC BY 4.0

[1] Protect the Ones You Love: Child Injuries are Preventable by the CDC is in the public domain

[2] Child Passenger Safety: Get the Facts by the CDC is in the public domain

[3] Child Passenger Safety: Get the Facts by the CDC is in the public domain

[4] Image by the CDC is in the public domain

[5] Child Injury by the CDC is in the public domain

[6] CDC Childhood Injury Report by the CDC is in the public domain

[7] Burn Prevention by the CDC is in the public domain

[8] Drowning Prevention by the CDC is in the public domain

[9] Poisoning Prevention by the CDC is in the public domain

[10] Road Traffic Safety by the CDC is in the public domain

[11] Safety Tips for Pedestrians by the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center is in the public domain

[12] Image is in the public domain