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Home Safety Injury in the home is extremely common, accounting for approximately one-third of all injuries. The home is the second most common location of unintentional fatal injuries in the United States, with motor vehicles traveling on the road being the first. The home is the site of approximately 20% of all injury death. The top five leading causes of unintentional home injury death are falls, poisoning, fire/burn, choking/suffocation, and drowning; together these causes account for 90% of all unin-tentional home injury deaths. Yet the majority of unintentional home injuries do not result in death. For every home injury death there are approximately 650 nonfatal injuries. Children under age 5 and adults over age 70 are the highest risk groups for home injury, both fatal and nonfatal. Source: http://www.homesafetycouncil.org/state_of_home_safety/sohs_factsheet_w006.asp HCMC collaborates with partners throughout the community to address home safety issues through child focused community based safety camp and referrals for high risk clients, these partners include: The Minnesota Visiting Nurse Agency (www.mvna.org) Brain Injury Association of Minnesota (www.braininjurymn.org)and Minnesota Poison Control Center (www.mnpoison.org). Links Home Safety Council - www.homesafetycouncil.org/index.aspx Burn Prevention – www.aap.org/publiced/BR_FireSafety.htm Fire Prevention - www.usfa.dhs.gov/citizens/ Foresight Home Childproofing - www.childproofhome.com/ State Farm home safety page - www.statefarm.com/learning/be_safe/home/home.asp MN Safety Council Safety Tips Sheets - www.minnesotasafetycouncil.org/facts/?L1=79&L2=269
Fall Prevention Each year, an average of more than 7,000 adults age 65 and older die from unintentional home injuries. The top five leading causes of these home injury deaths are falls, fire/burn, poisoning, natural/ environmental (e.g., exposure to severe heat or cold or a natural disaster), and choking/suffocation. Falls alone account for 52.5% of all home injury deaths for adults age 65-74, 68.2% of home injury deaths for adults age 75-84, and 78.4% of home injury deaths for adults age 85 and older. Adults age 65 and older experience an average of 2.3 million nonfatal unintentional home injuries annually. The top five leading causes of these nonfatal injuries are falls, overexertion, struck by/against, cut/pierce, and poisoning. Again, falls are the leading cause, accounting for more than 66% of nonfatal home injuries. Source: http://www.homesafetycouncil.org/state_of_home_safety/sohs_factsheet_w006.aspx Check back to this web site as our Falls Prevention Program develops in the near future. For more information, check out these web sites: Home Safety Council - http://www.homesafetycouncil.org/home/home_march05_w002.aspx Centers for Disease Control http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/falls/default.htm National Safety Council- http://www.nsc.org/issues/resources.htm
For more information on Hennepin County Medical Center's Trauma Prevention program, contact coordinator Julie Philbrook at (612) 873-8500, or julie.philbrook@hcmed.org See what Hennepin County Medical Center is doing to help prevent falls in older adults!
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