Page 11 - Big Book of Accident Prevention

What might have been Unintentional injury rates by age 11 Accidents wipe out more years of future happiness… Figure 8 – Unintentional (accidental) injury rates reported to A&E by age 120 Unintentional (accidental) injury rate per 1,000 population Every year, many thousands of people are cut down in their prime as a result of an accident. Their sudden, often violent, death is all the more tragic because it is premature: wiping out abruptly so many years of future happiness – not just for them, but for their families, friends and colleagues. When we talk of “years of life lost”, we talk of the 100 average number of years an accident victim would have lived if he or she had not died before their time: the years 1 not spent falling in love, setting up a business, raising children or travelling the world... Because accidents affect the young so much, they cast a very long shadow over the lives of those left behind, for whom every anniversary or milestone is a painful reminder of what might have been – but wasn’t. 80 4 60 Home 2 Road Leisure 40 20 3 0 Age Groups 0 - 4 5 - 9 10 - 14 15 - 19 20 - 24 25 - 29 30 - 34 35 - 39 40 - 44 45 - 49 50 - 54 55 - 59 60 - 64 65 - 69 70 - 74 75 - 79 80 - 84 85+ Source: RoSPA / All Wales Injury Surveillance System (AWISS) 1 Under-5s are most likely to be unintentionally injured in the home. Case study 1, on page 12, demonstrates how some of the causes of those injuries can be prevented successfully. This area is covered by the following Public Health Outcomes Framework indicator 2.7 (as designated by the Department of Health): Hospital admissions caused by unintentional and deliberate injuries in under-18s. 2 Young adults are most likely to be unintentionally injured while undertaking leisure activities. Case study 2, on page 14, demonstrates how some of the causes of those injuries can be prevented successfully. This area is covered by the following Public Health Outcomes Framework indicator 2.7 (as designated by the Department of Health): Hospital admissions caused by unintentional and deliberate injuries in under-18s. 3 Young people are a group at particular risk and speed is a major risk factor that influences the number of road casualties. Case study 3, on page 16, demonstrates how some of the causes of those injuries can be prevented successfully. This area is covered by the following Public Health Outcomes Framework indicator 1.10 (as designated by the Department of Health): Killed or seriously injured casualties on England’s roads. Over-65s are most likely to be unintentionally injured in the home. Case study 4, on page 18, demonstrates 4 how some of the causes of those injuries can be prevented successfully. This area is covered by the following Public Health Outcomes Framework indicators 2.24 and 4.14 (as designated by the Department of Health): Falls and injuries in the over-65s / Hip fractures. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents