Unintentional injuries from birth to 14 in San Francisco and California

We compiled data for San Francisco, California, and the United States to determine, and compare, the major causes of injuries and fatalities due to child unintentional injury. This work was done as part of needed backgrounds for a new program on child unintentional injury prevention in the San Francisco Department of Public Health. The program aims to expand education and prevention about child injury in San Francisco.

The data presented focuses on children ages 0 to 14 years. The data are presented in three major categories: unintentional injuries that do not require hospitalization, unintentional injuries that require hospitalization, and unintentional injuries that result in deaths. Within each category, data include additional information on the three leading causes of child injury: falls, passenger injuries, and pedestrian injuries. Differences within categories are compared by year, race/ethnicity, and age group.

The presentation will discuss how the data were used to educate providers and the public about child injury, and to encourage and develop additional programming in child injury prevention. Although the leading causes of child unintentional injury and fatalities are well-known to people who work in the field, they are not generally known to others, even providers who work directly with children or serve children's programs. Using striking data can be a first step in raising awareness of the need to develop additional programs.