Utah Child Accident Statistics

Children are vulnerable to a number of accidents throughout the different developmental stages of their lives. The seriousness of such safety threats to children cannot be discounted. This article attempts to show the readers the statistics on the severity of the problem. Resources from our child injury lawyer in Utah on safety measures are also available on the Christensen & Hymas webpage to help parents get the essential information that will help them avoid the same accidents from happening to their own child.

Burn and Fire Accidents

University of Utah Health Care identified smoke inhalation of the toxic gases produced by residential fires as the major cause of fire-related deaths. Actual flames and burns only account for about 30% of fire-related death and injuries. 500 children ages 4 and younger are hospitalized from burn-related injuries with 65% of them suffered scald burns and 20% for contact burns. Annually, an average of 500 children ages 14 and under are killed by fires. Moreover, hot water scald burns caused more deaths and hospitalization as compared to any hot liquid burns.

Car Accidents

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 1,314 children, 14 years and younger, died as occupants in vehicle crashes in 2009 while 179, 000 were injured. A CDC study revealed that in just one year, more than 618,000 children from ages 0-12 rode in the vehicles without the use of child safety seat, booster seat or seat belt at least some of the time. The wisdom of using restraint can be demonstrated by the statistics that says child safety seats reduce the risk of death in passenger cars by 71% for infants, and by 54% for children ages 1 to 4 years.

Dog Bite Accidents

Many victims of dog bites do not report the attack or seek medical attention, the recorded incidence may not be reflective of the actual cases of dog bite incidents. According to MedicineNet.com there are about 75 million dogs in the United States, and the CDC estimated that 4.5 million dog bite incidents happened in the United States. 880,000 dog bite victims were recorded to have obtained emergency medical care at different hospitals in the U.S. every year.

Drowning Accidents 

Health Care Utah stated that approximately 830 children, ages 14 and under, drown every year. Drowning is the third leading cause of death among infants (less than one year old) and 50% of these cases happened in the bath tub. For children ages 1 to 4 and 10 to 14 years old, drowning is reported as the second leading cause of unintentional death. Near drowning incidents that resulted to injuries among children was recorded at 3600 in a year.

Slip and Fall Accidents

University of Utah Health Care says 2.2 million children, ages 14 and under, are treated annually at hospital emergency rooms for fall-related injuries. Falling from windows is recorded to have claimed the lives of 12 children from ages 10 and below. Moreover, 100 children, ages 14 and below, were reported to have died from fall accidents in a year. Infants’ fall accidents involved furniture, baby walker and stairs while toddlers tend to fall from windows. Playground accidents were reported to be common among toddlers and young children.

Suffocation Accidents

According to a CDC report, across the United States unintentional infant suffocation death rates increased by 54% during 2000–2009, driving the overall increase in newborn and infant unintentional injury death rates. This underscores the need to ensure a safe sleeping environment for your children. Loose bedding must be avoided and consider room sharing without bed sharing as part of the safety recommendation. Training the child to sleep in supine position can also help in avoiding accidental suffocation. To read our article on children accidents, click here.

Image “Child proof fence” copyright by Tony Wills.

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