Child Home Safety: Analyzing Falls, Burns, Poisoning, and Injury Risks

This homework assignment provides an overview of home safety hazards for children, focusing on falls, burns, poisoning, sharp tool injuries, strangulation/suffocation, and animal bites. It presents statistical evidence, such as the number of child deaths from falls and burns, and the frequency of poisoning incidents. The assignment highlights the importance of understanding these risks to prevent injuries, referencing data from various sources. The content covers common causes of injuries, including tripping hazards, hot liquids, and exposure to sharp objects. It also examines the vulnerability of young children to dog bites and other home-related dangers. The assignment emphasizes the need for awareness and preventive measures to ensure a safe home environment for children. The provided references offer additional details on each type of injury and strategies for prevention.

HOME SAFETY
FOR CHILDREN

Falls
Falls are the most common type of injuries caused in children due to lack of safety are slips and falls. Some
of the common reasons for falls are tripping over scattered objects, fall from chairs or tools, fall across the
stairs. In 2014, an estimation of 46,000 children died from falls. Most of the high income countries have fall
rates of about 0.3 per 100000 or less. 66% of the fatal falls has been found to be occurring from heights,
while 8 % were due to the fall from the same level (Chippendale & Boltz, 2014)..
Burn injuries
Burn injuries at home refers to the burn occurred due to the contact with a hot object or spilling of hot liquid,
or exposure to hot steams. Worldwide almost 334 children aged 19 and below that dies from fires or burns.
87% of the deaths were due to residential home fires. 126,035 children under the age of 12 were admitted
in emergencies due to fire injuries in 2013. Scald burns caused by the hot liquids are the most common form
of burns. Medical costs for the hospital admissions goes upto $14,498 per case (Burns and Fire Safety Fact
Sheet 2015 )", 2018.
Poison injury
Poisoning can be caused due to the inhalation or consumption of poisonous liquid some as the cleansing
products or acids. Accidental poisoning has been found to be the 15th leading cause of premature death in
Australia. Around 80000 kids in Australia are rushed to the ED due to accidental poisoning (Bond et al.,
2012).
Injury from sharp tools
As per the data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, about 30% of the residential injury is caused due to
the exposure to sharp objects such as knives or sharp edges and corners( Ablewhite et al., 2015).
Strangulation and suffocation
About 2-4 pediatrics death in Australia occurs due to choking/ suffocation or strangulation. It can occur due
to the swallowing of small coins or toy parts or being strangled by cords McDonald et al., (2016).
Animal bite injury
Children aged 0-4 are most vulnerable to dog bite. About 15 % of the home injury are caused by animal bite
( Ablewhite et al., 2015). .
STATISTICAL EVIDENCE

REFERENCES
 Ablewhite, J., Peel, I., McDaid, L., Hawkins, A., Goodenough, T., Deave, T., ... & Kendrick, D. (2015). Parental
perceptions of barriers and facilitators to preventing child unintentional injuries within the home: a qualitative study.
BMC Public Health, 15(1), 280
 Bond, G. R., Woodward, R. W., & Ho, M. (2012). The growing impact of pediatric pharmaceutical poisoning. The
Journal of pediatrics, 160(2), 265-270.
 Burns and Fire Safety Fact Sheet (2015 ). (2018). Retrieved from
https://www.safekids.org/sites/default/files/documents/skw_burns_fact_sheet_feb_2015.pdf
 Chippendale, T., & Boltz, M. (2014). The neighborhood environment: Perceived fall risk, resources, and strategies for
fall prevention. The Gerontologist, 55(4), 575-583.
 Kemp, A. M., Jones, S., Lawson, Z., & Maguire, S. A. (2014). Patterns of burns and scalds in children. Archives of
disease in childhood, 99(4), 316-321.
 McDonald, E. M., Mack, K., Shields, W. C., Lee, R. P., & Gielen, A. C. (2016). Primary care opportunities to prevent
unintentional home injuries: a focus on children and older adults. American journal of lifestyle medicine,
1559827616629924.