EXTERNAL CAUSE Burn - Hot Object / Substance 7 Caught Accidentally In or Between Objects 38 Cutting & Piercing 13 Dog Bite s Driveway Run Over 6 Drowning 4 Fall 77 Motor Vehicle Traffic: Pedestrian s Other s Struck by or Against Object 11 Total 161 (s) = numbers ≤ 3 have been suppressed for confidentiality purposes. 10 safekids news | September 2018 ISSUE No 80 HOME INJURIES FOR CHILDREN BIG RISK FOR UNDER-FIVES We have recently had a look at Starship Children’s Hospital’s 2017/18 admission data for under- fives who had suffered injuries at home. Falls and the age of these patients are the big concern. Between 01 July 2017 and 30 June 2018, 161 children under the age of five years were admitted to Starship Children’s Hospital for injuries that all took place in the home. Children aged between one and two years accounted for 54 per cent of these hospitalisations, split evenly at 27 per cent for each age. The second major injury cause is fingers/ limbs being caught accidently in or between objects, which accounts for 24% of home injuries. Nine out of ten of these injuries are the result of a child’s finger(s) being caught in doors. Note that this data includes child hospitalisations that were unintentional in intent and excludes day patients or those re-admitted for the same event, or who died in hospital as a result of their injury. Based on the 2017/18 Starship figures, the home must remain a key focus for injury prevention efforts, subject to the analysis of more data from around the country as it comes to hand. Falls-related injuries account for almost half (48%) of injury admissions. The three main types of fall related injuries are: children falling off furniture (including falls off beds, chairs and other furniture) (35%), slipping and tripping over things (22%) and falling from a building/window (12%) or multi-level area (including falls off a trampoline) (12%). TABLE 1: NUMBER OF CHILD HOSPITALISATIONS BY AGE & EXTERNAL CAUSE, under 5s (July 2017-June 2018) AGE Total 0 24 1 43 2 44 3 26 4 24 TOTAL 161 Playground equipment Furniture (including bed and chair etc) FIGURE 1: PERCENTAGE OF CHILD RELATED FALLS, HOSPITALISATIONS, under 5s (July 2017-June 2018) 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 35% 22% 12% 12% 8% 12%