Child Safety Week is organised by the Child Accident Prevention Trust (CAPT) to raise awareness of the risks of child accidents and how they can be prevented. This year, the theme is ‘share because you care’, focusing on how sharing safety knowledge saves lives.
Unintentional injuries are one of the main causes of premature death and illness for children in England. Every year, 60 children under the age of five die from injuries in and around the home, which is one in twelve of all deaths of children aged one to four. There are also 450,000 visits to A&E and 40,000 emergency hospital admissions in England each year because of accidents at home. The most common accidents children experience include choking, suffocation, drowning, falls and burns, all of which can contribute to life changing disability or disfigurement.
There is a strong causal link between child injuries and social deprivation. Sadly, disadvantaged children are 13 times more likely to be killed or seriously injured due to preventable accidents. This coincides with the statistic that the most deprived areas have 45% higher hospital admission rates. Poor housing and overcrowded conditions lead to increased accidents.
The financial impact of unintentional injuries is estimated to be £36m per year for emergency hospital admissions, and the lifetime social care cost is estimated to be £1.19m for a child who suffers a severe brain injury.
Child Safety Week therefore focuses on prevention, and sharing knowledge in an effective way to spread awareness. For example, the CAPT website details an example of a mum taking her one-year-old to hospital after swallowing a button battery, which she wouldn’t have known to do had it not been for a Facebook post.
If you would like to discuss anything mentioned in this article, then please get in touch with our Personal Injury team today by calling 01484 821 500, or by completing our online enquiry form and we will get back to you at a time that is most suitable.