| Facts About Burn Injury
According to the latest data available from the National SAFE KIDS
Campaign and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
consider the following statistics:
- Accidental, or unintentional, injury is the leading cause of death
among children ages 14 and younger.
- The five leading causes of accidental injury are burns, motor
vehicle accidents, falls, poisonings, and drowning.
- Burns and fires are the fourth most common cause of accidental death
in children and adults, and account for nearly 4,500 adult and child
deaths per year.
- Nearly 75 percent of all burns in children are preventable.
- Toddlers and children are more often burned by a scalding or flames.
- The majority of children ages 4 and under who are hospitalized for
burn-related injuries suffer from scalds burns (65 percent) or contact
burns (20 percent).
- Hot tap water burns cause more deaths and hospitalizations than
burns from any other hot liquids.
| Age |
Most
Common Injury Type |
Risk
Factors |
| < 5
Years |
Flame |
Playing with
matches, cigarette lighters, fires in fireplaces, barbecue pits, and
trash fires. |
| |
Scald |
Kitchen injury
from tipping scalding liquids.
Bathtub scalds often associated with lack of supervision or child
abuse. Greatest number of pediatric burn patients are infants and
toddlers younger than 3 years of age burned by scalding liquids.< |
| 5 to 10
Years |
Flame |
Male children
are at an increased risk often due to fire play and risk-taking behaviors. |
| |
Scald |
Female children
are at increased risk, with most burns occurring in the kitchen or
bathroom. |
| Adolescent |
Flame |
Injury associated
with male peer-group activities involving gasoline, or other flammable
products. |
| |
Electrical |
Occurs most
often in male adolescents involved in dare-type behaviors, such as
climbing utility poles or antennas. In rural areas, burns may be caused
by moving irrigation pipes that touch an electrical source. |
- During the last 30 years, burn injuries have decreased by 50 percent
in the US for the following reasons:
- Increased use of smoke detectors.
- The flammability of consumer products, such as toys and pajamas,
is federally regulated.
- The US government monitors safety in the workplace.
- A greater national emphasis is placed on burn injury prevention
and fire safety.
- A decrease in smoking helps prevent burn injuries.
- New water heaters in homes and in public areas are now preset at
lower temperatures to reduce scald injuries.
- There are fewer open fires.
|
