The latest CDC report says that the majority of children and adolescent accidental injuries in the US are due to vehicular accidents, drowning, and falls. From 2001 to 2006, approximately 55 million children were treated at emergency facilities for so-called “unintentional injuries”, leading to a yearly estimate of 9 million cases. Many accidents were non-fatal. However, a large number of accidents also resulted in deaths.

Other information given in the CDC report are:

• The highest death rates in children of all ages were among occupants of cars and other forms of motor vehicles;
• Drowning was the leading cause of death due to unintentional injury for children aged one to four years old;
• For older children aged 5 to 19 years old, fatal injuries were due to being an occupant in a motor vehicle crash;
• Poisoning and falls accounted for the highest rates of non-fatal injuries to young children aged one to four years old.

This indicates that the risks for different types of injuries are age-related and that parents and caregivers should therefore take precautionary measures according the minor’s age.

The full report, “CDC Childhood Injury Report: Patterns of Unintentional Injuries among 0-19 Year Olds in the United States, 2000-2006,” is available at www.cdc.gov/safechild/Child_Injury_Data.htm.

For preventive measures recommended by the CDC, check out www.cdc.gov/safechild.

Spring is arriving in the northern USA, at long last. After all that winter, I am so excited to do all those summer activities – eating ice cream, playing at the park, going to the beach and swimming.

Something all parents and children need to be aware of that the water in lakes, pools, swimming holes, streams and rivers is still very, dangerously, cold, even though the ice has melted and the air is warm. It will take months for the frozen water to warm up enough to be safe for swimming.

In my home state of Minnesota, a nine-year-old boy drowned on a warm April day after jumping from a boat into a lake near his home. The shock of the cold water paralyzed him and he never made it back to shore.

After this tragedy, his family and friends formed ColdWaterWarning, an action group to educate parents and children about the dangers of swimming in cold water.

Jumping or falling into very cold water causes shock, paralysis, and a gasp reflex that makes the swimmer inhale the icy-cold water. If they are not rescued immediately then it will almost certainly be fatal.

Children are most vulnerable to the dangers of cold water. Please tell your children about the dangers of swimming in cold water, and stay out of lakes, rivers and pools until summer.