May is National Trauma Awareness Month

While May is National Trauma Awareness Month, there is no reason not to promote safety on our roads, in our workplaces and at our homes every month of the year.

In recognition of National Trauma Awareness Month, the American Trauma Society has provided several talking points EMS agencies can use to integrate into calendars or posters for health fairs, local promotional events and safety rodeos:

• Injuries are the #1 cause of death among children. Car crashes, suffocation, drowning, poisoning, fires and falls are some of the most common causes of injury. Every hour, one child dies from an injury.
• Car crashes, suffocation, drowning, poisoning, fires and falls are some of the most common ways children are hurt or killed. Though death rates for most of these are dropping, suffocation and poisoning rates are on the rise. About 1 in 5 child deaths is due to injury.
• Every 4 seconds, a child is treated for an injury in an emergency department.
• Each year, one in every three adults age 65 and older falls. Falls can cause moderate to severe injuries, such as hip fractures and head traumas, and can increase the risk of early death. Among older adults (those 65 or older), falls are the leading cause of injury death. They are also the most common cause of nonfatal injuries and hospital admissions for trauma.
• Falls are the most common cause of traumatic brain injuries (TBI). In 2000, TBI accounted for 46% of fatal falls among older adults.
• The chances of falling and of being seriously injured in a fall increase with age. In 2009, the rate of fall injuries for adults 85 and older was almost four times that for adults 65 to 74.
• Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among those aged 5–34 in the U.S. The economic impact is also notable: the lifetime costs of crash-related deaths and injuries among drivers and passengers were $70 billion in 2005.
• US adults drank too much and got behind the wheel about 112 million times in 2010. Alcohol-impaired drivers are involved in about 1 in 3 crash deaths, resulting in nearly 11,000 deaths in 2009.
• Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among those aged 5–34 in the U.S.
• Adult seat belt use is the most effective way to save lives and reduce injuries in crashes. Yet millions of adults do not wear their seat belts on every trip.
• Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S. teens, accounting for more than one in three deaths in this age group. In 2009, eight teens ages 16 to 19 died every day from motor vehicle injuries. Per mile driven, teen drivers ages 16 to 19 are four times more likely than older drivers to crash.
• Compared with other age groups, teens have the lowest rate of seat belt use. In 2005, 10.2% of high school students reported they rarely or never wear seat belts when riding with someone else.
• In 2008, 4,378 pedestrians were killed in traffic crashes in the United States, and another 69,000 pedestrians were injured. This averages one crash-related pedestrian death every 2 hours, and a pedestrian injury every 8 minutes.
• Alcohol-impairment—either for the driver or for the pedestrian—was reported in 48 percent of the traffic crashes that resulted in pedestrian death. Of the pedestrians involved, 36 percent had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) above the illegal limit of .08 grams per deciliter (g/dL) or higher.
• Each day, more than 15 people are killed and more than 1,200 people are injured in crashes that were reported to involve a distracted driver.
• There are three main types of distracted driving: visual—taking your eyes off the road; manual—taking your hands off the wheel; and cognitive—taking your mind off what you are doing.
• In 2009, more than 5,400 people died in crashes that were reported to involve a distracted driver and about 448,000 people were injured. Among those killed or injured in these crashes, nearly 1,000 deaths and 24,000 injuries included cell phone use as the major distraction.
• 25% of drivers in the United States reported that they “regularly or fairly often” talk on their cell phones while driving.
• 9% of drivers in the United States reported texting or e-mailing “regularly or fairly often” while driving.
• Every day, almost 30 people in the United States die in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver. This amounts to one death every 48 minutes.
• The annual cost of alcohol-related crashes totals more than $51 billion.
• Prevention works: Seat belts have saved an estimated 255,000 lives between 1975 and 2008; School-based programs to prevent violence have cut violent behavior among high school students by 29%; Sobriety checkpoints have been shown to cut alcohol-related crashes and deaths by about 20%; Tai chi and other exercise programs for older adults have been shown to reduce falls by as much as half among participants.

World Trauma Symposium, November 1, 2012, New Orleans, LA

Debuting at the 2012 EMS World Expo, the World Trauma Symposium will present the latest information on the care of prehospital trauma patients and global trends in trauma care from internationally recognized experts.

Hosted by the National Association of EMT's PHTLS Committee and EMS World Expo, attend the symposium to meet with other stakeholders in prehospital trauma care from around the world to:

• Share the most up-to-date information on new techniques and protocols, lessons learned, and trends in the prehospital care of trauma patients.
• Build and enhance international relationships among prehospital trauma care specialists to facilitate the global exchange of information.
• Share issues and challenges faced in prehospital trauma care with an international audience and discuss how they may be addressed.

For more information and to register, see worldtraumasymposium.com.