Injuries are a major source of childhood emergency department and hospital admissions. Accident statistics from the National Safety Council, the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control and other sources tell us that:
Injury is the leading cause of death in children over 1 year of age.
Dogs bite more than 4.7 million people each year.
In 2000, nearly 373,000 children ages 14 and under were treated in the US for bicycle-related injuries, and 173 died from this type of injury in 1999.
The types of trauma that cause death in children (in order of frequency) are:
Motor-vehicle crashes.
Drowning.
Burns.
Poisonings.
Firearms.
Falls.
In 2000, approximately 2,300 children ages 14 and under died from accidents in the home.
Children from birth to 4 years old account for nearly 60 percent of deaths in house fires.
