404-936-6986
Smart Kid Choices
  • Home
    • Contact Us
  • BUY NOW
  • Smart Kid Cards
  • Statistics
  • Blog
  • Meet Arlo the Ant
  • Reviews
  • Home
    • Contact Us
  • BUY NOW
  • Smart Kid Cards
  • Statistics
  • Blog
  • Meet Arlo the Ant
  • Reviews

Statistics
It is not the Odds, but the Stakes

School Bus Accidents

1/6/2021

1 Comment

 
Davis Law Group, P.S. says that in the United States, school bus accidents are somewhat of a rarity, and thankfully we don’t hear about children being injured in devastating crashes too often – especially when you consider that some 480,000 school buses carry 25 million kids each day. That’s more than half of America’s schoolchildren. Overall, the data shows us that school buses – the largest form of mass transit in the U.S. – are generally a safe option for transporting children, but the reality is that accidents do happen and children do get hurt as a result.

They begin by explaining that school bus accident statistics can be generally misleading. There are many technicalities involved in the recording process, and these technicalities can potentially impact the reporting process. For example, a school bus transporting children on an out-of-state field trip may not be recorded as a school bus accident.

From 2004 to 2013, 1,214 people were reportedly killed in school transportation-related accidents, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). This statistic is partially misleading in the sense that nearly three-fourths (75 percent) of all the deaths were occupants of the other vehicles involved in the crash. That data makes sense – school buses are huge vehicles that can cause a lot of damage.

They say that in fact, only 8 percent of all fatalities that resulted from school bus accidents were occupants in the buses themselves. The remaining percentage of all fatalities – 21 percent – was made up of non-occupants of either vehicle, meaning they were likely pedestrian bystanders or bicyclists.

They published that the NHTSA found that from 2004-13, just 106 people – both children and adults – were killed while riding or driving a school bus. Sixty-one were passengers; 45 were drivers. Those numbers equate to just six passenger fatalities a year. Considering the number of children that ride the bus and the estimated 10 billion miles a year school buses cover, busing is extremely safe.
DLG

According to Allen & Allen, safety experts say that riding the bus to and from school is still the safest option.  According to the American School Bus Council, students are about 70 times more likely to get to school safely on a bus.  However, there is an alarming trend supported by data and statistics that drivers routinely pass stopped school buses, and that the consequences of this behavior can be fatal.

In an interview with CNN, Charlie Hood, executive director of the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services, or NASDPTS, said that children “are most vulnerable when they are pedestrians.”

Case in point: every year, the NASDPTS conducts a one-day count of illegal school bus passing incidents throughout the U.S. In 2018, school bus drivers in 38 states recorded 83,944 incidents during that one-day count, suggesting that as many as 15 million vehicles could be illegally passing school buses and their students each 180-day school year. Knowing when to stop for a bus if you are a driver, and how to approach and leave the bus if you are a passenger is imperative.
AA

https://www.injurytriallawyer.com/blog/child-injuries-from-school-bus-accidents.cfm
https://www.allenandallen.com/school-bus-safety-statistics-point-to-alarming-trend/

Please research this subject extensively. Stats are subject to change on a daily basis. Remember, it is not the odds, but the stakes.

1 Comment

Knife-Related Injuries

1/6/2021

0 Comments

 
Knives cause more disabling injuries than any other type of hand tool. This study investigates knife-related injuries requiring Emergency Department (ED) treatment among children and adults in the United States (US) from 1990 through 2008.

A retrospective analysis of data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System of the Consumer Product Safety Commission was conducted.

An estimated 8,250,914 (95% confidence interval [CI] 7,149,074-9,352,755) knife-related injuries were treated in US EDs from 1990 to 2008, averaging 434,259 (95% CI 427,198-441,322) injuries annually, or 1190 per day.

The injury rate was 1.56 injuries per 1000 US resident population per year.

Fingers/thumbs (66%; 5,447,467 of 8,249,410) were injured most often, and lacerations (94%; 7,793,487 of 8,249,553) were the most common type of injury.

Pocket/utility knives were associated with injury most often (47%; 1,169,960 of 2,481,994), followed by cooking/kitchen knives (36%; 900,812 of 2,481,994).

Children were more likely than adults to be injured while playing with a knife or during horseplay (p < 0.01; odds ratio 9.57; 95% CI 8.10-11.30).

One percent of patients were admitted to the hospital, and altercation-related stabbings to the trunk accounted for 52% of these admissions.


https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249318232_Knife-Related_Injuries_Treated_in_United_States_Emergency_Departments_1990-2008

Please research this subject extensively. Stats are subject to change on a daily basis. Remember, it is not the odds, but the stakes.
0 Comments

"Safe Word"

1/4/2021

0 Comments

 
The one simple word that could protect your child from danger. Child abduction – two words that strike fear into the heart of every parent. Sadly, not only is child abduction a common occurrence, frighteningly, it’s also on the rise with a staggering 2,185 children going missing every single day.

One safety tool that many child safety experts and advocates suggest is a family safety code word. This is a word that is only known by the child and parents, and it can be used in several ways:

1. Parents who need to send another adult to pick up their child for some reason, maybe an emergency situation, can tell that adult the safety code word. Children are told that they should never go with an adult, either stranger or someone they know, unless that person knows the safety code word.

2. Families can use the safety code word as a signal of danger. If a child is somewhere, maybe home with a babysitter or at a friend's house, the child can use the word in a sentence over the phone with the parents to let them know that she needs them to come right away because there is danger. An example of this would be "Hi, Miss Babysitter, we just called to say good night to little Susie, could you put her on the phone?" and when Susie gets on the phone she could say, "We're having a lot of fun, Mommy, but would you take me out for a banana split tomorrow?" If the safety code word is banana split, then mom knows that there is a situation that requires her to come home immediately.
3. The danger signal can also be used if the family is out together, make a plan of what to do if the word is used. For example, if the family is walking in a dangerous part of town and someone ominous approaches them, Dad could say the safety code word and Mom and kids know that they need to immediately run in the opposite direction and get help.
https://www.revvedupkids.org/blog/safety-code-words
https://www.mamamia.com.au/safe-word-for-kids/
https://www.newyorkfamily.com/family-safe-words-and-their-importance/

Please research this subject extensively. Stats are subject to change on a daily basis. Remember, it is not the odds, but the stakes.
0 Comments

Childhood Victims of Snakebites

1/4/2021

0 Comments

 
Per PEDIATRICS the Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics:

BACKGROUND:
Snakebites are not a reportable condition (to state health departments), and 1 major assessment of US children with snakebites was published 50 years ago. Increasing urbanization, population shifts south and west, newer antivenom therapy, and the importation of exotic snakes may have changed snakebites. Poison control centers are often consulted on treatment and collect surveillance data.


METHODS: Generic codes for venomous, nonvenomous, and unknown snakebites were used to characterize victims aged ≤18 years reported to US poison control centers between 2000 and 2013. Data included demographic characteristics, snake types, and outcomes.

RESULTS:
  • Callers reported 18 721 pediatric snakebites (annual mean, 1337).
  • Two-thirds were male (n = 12 688 [68%]), with a mean age of 10.7 years.
  • One-half of the snakebites were venomous (n = 9183 [49%]), with copperheads (n = 3602 [39%]) and rattlesnakes (n = 2859 [31%]) the most frequently identified.
  • Reported copperhead bites increased 137% and unknown crotalids (venomous) increased 107%. Exotic (nonnative) exposures were reported in 2% of cases.
  • All 50 states reported snakebites, but one-quarter occurred in Texas and Florida.
  • Rates for total snakebites and venomous snakebites were highest in West Virginia, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. One-fifth required ICU admission. Limited data for 28% of bites for antivenom treatment suggests increasing use. Four victims died.

CONCLUSIONS: The epidemiology of pediatric snakebites is changing. One-half of the reported exposures were venomous, and copperhead bites and exotic species are being reported more frequently. Although snakebite-related deaths are rare, ICU admission is common. Antivenom treatment is incompletely reported, but its use is increasing.

Download PDF

Please research this subject extensively. Stats are subject to change on a daily basis. Remember, it is not the odds, but the stakes.
0 Comments

Children ages 1 to 4 have the highest drowning rates

1/4/2021

0 Comments

 
Every day, about ten people die from unintentional drowning. Of these, two are children aged 14 or younger. Drowning ranks fifth among the leading causes of unintentional injury death in the United States.

Children ages 1 to 4 have the highest drowning rates. In 2014, among children 1 to 4 years old who died from an unintentional injury, one-third died from drowning. Among children ages 1 to 4, most drownings occur in home swimming pools. Drowning is responsible for more deaths among children 1-4 than any other cause except congenital anomalies (birth defects). Among those 1-14, fatal drowning remains the second-leading cause of unintentional injury-related death behind motor vehicle crashes.

How big is the problem?
  • From 2005-2014, there were an average of 3,536 fatal unintentional drownings (non-boating related) annually in the United States — about ten deaths per day. An additional 332 people died each year from drowning in boating-related incidents.
  • About one in five people who die from drowning are children 14 and younger.1 For every child who dies from drowning, another five receive emergency department care for nonfatal submersion injuries.
  • More than 50% of drowning victims treated in emergency departments (EDs) require hospitalization or transfer for further care (compared with a hospitalization rate of about 6% for all unintentional injuries). These nonfatal drowning injuries can cause severe brain damage that may result in long-term disabilities such as memory problems, learning disabilities, and permanent loss of basic functioning (e.g., permanent vegetative state).

https://www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety/water-safety/waterinjuries-factsheet.html

Please research this subject extensively. Stats are subject to change on a daily basis. Remember, it is not the odds, but the stakes.
0 Comments

Kids = Poor Dog Body Language Understanding

1/4/2021

0 Comments

 
Very Concerning, Most Bites Occur with Young Children... a Key Factor in This is Poor Dog Body Language Understanding.
  • The Humane Society estimates 51% of dog bite victims are children.
  • The American Veterinary Medical Association states that the rate of dog bites for children is highest between the ages of 5-9.
  • Getting bitten by a dog is the second most frequent cause of visits to emergency rooms for children according to a survey done by Weiss HB, Friedman DI, Coben JH “Incidence of dog bite injuries treated in emergency departments,” in the JAMA 1998;279:53.
  • Children are also more likely than adults to need medical attention, and are far more likely to be severely injured (CDC).
  • Young children score badly in discriminating dog body language and look mainly at the face of the dog to make their decisions. Lakestani et al (2005)

Most Dog Bites Occur with a Known Dog, in a Familiar Place
  • Most dog bites affecting young children occur during everyday activities and while interacting with familiar dogs (CDC).
  • The vast majority of biting dogs (77%) belong to the victim’s family or a friend (CDC).
  • 80% of dog bites happen at home. (Kahn et al (2004) Miller and Howell (2007).

https://kids-n-k9s.com/dog-bite-statistics-for-the-united-states/

Please research this subject extensively. Stats are subject to change on a daily basis. Remember, it is not the odds, but the stakes.
0 Comments

Bike Helmets DO Save Lives

1/4/2021

0 Comments

 
According to CR Consumer reports, seventy-eight percent of adult cyclists and 88 percent of young riders who suffered head and neck injuries were not wearing helmets when they were injured, according to a new study published in the journal Brain Injury that analyzed 76,032 cycling injuries between 2002 and 2012. This is troubling, given that earlier research has shown that only about 29 percent of adult cyclists and 42 percent of child cyclists always wear helmets.

The researchers behind the study wanted to examine helmet use among people who had suffered head and neck injuries while cycling. To do so, they used results from the National Trauma Data Bank, which logs patient records from over 900 trauma centers and emergency rooms across the U.S.
Injuries were much more severe for anyone not wearing a helmet, and people who suffered injuries that were reported to the database used helmets at low rates.

For everyone, the results show that wearing helmets is significantly linked to a reduced risk for longer hospital stays, serious injuries, and death. These findings should help support further study into ways to encourage helmet use, the study authors write.
“Education is necessary but not sufficient,” Bazargan-Hejazi says. Researchers need to also look into ways to change attitudes about wearing a helmet and help cyclists better assess the risks of head injury. 

“I’m guessing people think if they’re not riding fast, they don’t need a helmet,” says Peter Anzalone, senior test project leader for bike helmets at CR, who encourages cyclists of all ages to wear a helmet every time they ride. “People don’t seem to realize how easily they can get severely injured by falling and hitting their head.”


https://www.consumerreports.org/head-injuries/most-cyclists-who-suffer-head-injuries-arent-wearing-helmets/

Please research this subject extensively. Stats are subject to change on a daily basis.
Remember, it is not the odds, but the stakes.
0 Comments

Youth and Tobacco Use

1/3/2021

0 Comments

 
Preventing tobacco product use among youth is critical to ending the tobacco epidemic in the United States.

If cigarette smoking continues at the current rate among youth in this country, 5.6 million of today’s Americans younger than 18 will die early from a smoking-related illness. That’s about 1 of every 13 Americans aged 17 years or younger who are alive today.


In 2020, nearly 7 of every 100 middle school students (6.7%) and about 23 of every 100 high school students (23.6%) reported current use of a tobacco product. In 2019, nearly 1 of every 4 middle school students (24.3%) and over half (53.3%) of high school students said they had ever tried a tobacco product.
  • Tobacco product use is started and established primarily during adolescence.
  • Nearly 9 out of 10 adults who smoke cigarettes daily first try smoking by age 18, and 99% first try smoking by age 26.
  • Each day in the U.S., about 1,600 youth smoke their first cigarette and nearly 200 youth start smoking every day.
  • Flavorings in tobacco products can make them more appealing to youth.
  • In 2020, 85% of high school students and 74% of middle school students who used tobacco products in the past 30 days reported using a flavored tobacco product during that time.

https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/youth_data/tobacco_use/index.htm

Please research this subject extensively. Stats are subject to change on a daily basis.
Remember, it is not the odds, but the stakes.
0 Comments

Home Fire Deaths & Injuries

1/3/2021

0 Comments

 
Homes include one- or two-family homes and apartments or other multi-family housing.

  • During 2011-2015, an estimated average of 2,510 people died and 12,300 more were non-fatally injured per year in reported home1 fires. These fires caused 80% of all fire deaths and 78% of all reported fire injuries in this five-year period.
  • Although people 85 and over had the highest rate of fire death and injuries per million population, they only account for 2% of the population. Consequently, the actual number of victims that age is smaller than victims in most lower-risk age groups.
  • Children under 15 accounted for 12% of the home fire fatalities and 10% of the injuries. Children under five account for 6% of the deaths and 4% of the injuries. Children below the age of 5 are now at lower risk of fire death than people over 45.
  • While smoking materials were the leading cause of home fire deaths overall, this was true only for people in the 45-84 age groups.
  • Heating was the leading cause of fire deaths in the under 5 and the 5-9 age groups.
  • Males were more likely to be killed or injured in home fires than females and accounted for larger percentages of the victims. (57% of the deaths and 54% of the injuries).
Picture
https://www.nfpa.org/News-and-Research/Data-research-and-tools/Building-and-Life-Safety/Home-fire-victims-by-age-and-gender

Please research this subject extensively. Stats are subject to change on a daily basis.
Remember, it is not the odds, but the stakes.
0 Comments

Incidence of COVID-19 in Children

1/3/2021

0 Comments

 
In the United States and globally, fewer cases of COVID-19 have been reported in children (age 0-17 years) compared with adults. While children comprise 22% of the U.S. population, the most recent data, available through the CDC, show that some cases of COVID-19 in the United States reported to CDC were among children.

The number and rate of cases in children in the United States have been steadily increasing since March 2020. The true incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children is not known due to lack of widespread testing and the prioritization of testing for adults and those with severe illness. Hospitalization rates in children are significantly lower than hospitalization rates in adults with COVID-19, suggesting that children may have less severe illness from COVID-19 compared to adults.


Recent evidence suggests that compared to adults, children likely have similar viral loads in their nasopharynx, similar secondary infections rates, and can spread the virus to others.

Due to community mitigation measures and school closures, transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to and among children may have been reduced in the United States during the pandemic in the spring and early summer of 2020. This may explain the low incidence in children compared with adults. Comparing trends in pediatric infections before and after the return to child care, in-person school, youth sports and other activities may enhance our understanding about infections in children.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/pediatric-hcp.html

Please research this subject extensively. Stats are subject to change on a daily basis.
Remember, it is not the odds, but the stakes.
0 Comments
    Buy Now

    Archives

    September 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed