Falling is major injury cause in kids
abu dhabi — Most of the non-fatal injuries among children in Abu Dhabi were caused by falling, revealed the Department of Health in Abu Dhabi.
According to data released by the Injury and Poisoning Notification System (IPNS), falling caused 56 per cent of total injuries among children while wounds, burns, poisoning and traffic accidents together accounted for 44 per cent.
The data also revealed that over 77.5 per cent of non-fatal injuries among children occurred at or around the home in the past two years.
Cases among children aged 0-17 years accounted for nearly 34.6 per cent of all non-fatal injuries standing at around 19,900 cases during the period 20152016.
In light of the data, the department launched a home injuries prevention awareness campaign titled “A child’s eyes see no danger” with an aim to raise awareness about preventive measures to help protect children from potential injuries. The campaign will also address hazards and physical risks such as falling, suffocating, choking, burning, drowning or becoming exhausted.
The campaign is being implemented in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (Seha), the Ministry of Interior and the Family Development Foundation.
Dr Omniyat Al Hajeri, director of public health at the department, stated: “Preventing injuries and reducing related cases of completely avoidable injuries is what we hope to achieve through our prevention campaign. This has become
Preventing injuries and reducing related cases of completely avoidable injuries is what we hope to achieve through our prevention campaign.”
Dr Omniyat Al Hajeri, director of Public Health, Department of Healt
more necessary in light of the latest figures demonstrating an increasing number of home injuries among children in particular. Thus, we have launched the home injuries prevention campaign to raise awareness about the various preventative measures that help provide a safer environment for all of our children bringing us even closer to achieving our vision for a ‘Healthier Abu Dhabi’.”
The Department of Health called on all parents to take the necessary measures to prevent their children from being injured. This includes monitoring them at all times, particularly in dangerous places such as kitchens, toilets, play areas and parking spaces. It strongly recommended that homes be child-proofed using safety gateways to cordon off stairs and risky areas, in addition to using security locks at all times on windows, exterior doors and balconies. Furthermore, furniture and other objects that could be used to climb up to windows must be moved away, while sharp and dangerous items such as small toys, coins, chemical cleaners and medicines should be kept out of reach in high places or locked away in drawers.
The department also recommended using fences with automatic locking around the house’s pools and wells, in addition to emptying out all pools of water, as just a few litres could cause young children to drown.
As part of the campaign, the department will conduct several training sessions in multiple educational and governmental entities as well as healthcare facilities in the emirate to raise awareness among parents on preventive home injuries measures, identify the underlying causes of child injuries and the related risks for children in addition to administering first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to children and infants. — Wam