Preventing unintentional injuries in children and young adolescents

Effective Health Care s A Health of the Nation target is to reduce by one third the death rate from unintentional injury in children aged 14 and under by the year 2005. s There is good evidence that the use of cycle helmets and child car seat restraints can reduce serious injury to children involved in road traffic accidents. s Urban road safety measures such as the provision of crossing patrollers, measures to redistribute traffic and improve the safety of individual roads can reduce the rate and severity of childhood accidents. s The use of safety devices in the home such as smoke detectors, child resistant containers and thermostat control for tap water can reduce the risks of home injuries. Targeting of households at higher risk combined with home visits, education and the free distribution of devices is likely to make the most impact. s Educational programmes by themselves appear to have little effect. However, a number of community programmes which involve local participation and use a broad range of interventions have been effective at reducing childhood injuries from a wide variety of causes. These need to be based on accurate data derived from surveillance systems.