Childhood unintentional injuries: supervision and first aid provided.
BACKGROUND
The aim of this study was to investigate the circumstances surrounding unintentional injuries of children and the appropriateness of the first aid provided by caregivers.


METHODS
This prospective study included children with aged range 0-12 years, who presented with an unintentional injury at the Trauma Unit of a hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, over a 3 month period. Caregivers were interviewed about the circumstances of the injury and the first aid provided. Experts classified the first aid as appropriate, appropriate but incomplete, or inappropriate.


RESULTS
A total of 313 children were included with a median age of 3.75 years. The most common causes of injury were falls (39.6%, n = 124), burns (23.9%, n = 75) and motor vehicle crashes (10.5%, n = 33). More than a quarter of the children (27.2%, n = 81) had been left under the supervision of another child below the age of 12. When the injury occurred, 7.1% (n = 22) of the children were unattended. First aid was provided in 43.1% (n = 134) of the cases. More than half of these interventions (53%, n = 72) were inappropriate or appropriate but incomplete.


CONCLUSIONS
Especially young children are at risk for unintentional injuries. Lack of appropriate supervision increases this risk. Prevention education of parents and children may help to protect children from injuries. First-aid training should also be more accessible to civilians as both the providing of as well as the quality of first-aid provided lacked in the majority of cases.
Department of Paediatric Surgery, Erasmus MC Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Annabel
A
Jonkheijm
Jenny Johanna Hendrijntje
JJ
Zuidgeest
Monique
M
van Dijk
Arjan Bastiaan
AB
van As
D000058:Accidental Falls; D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013019:South Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D015996:Survival Rate / Q000639:trends; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*