Injury: The Leading Cause of Death Among Persons 1-44
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Injuries are the Leading cause of Death in the USA for People Ages 1-44 Years of Age (graphic from CDC)
In 2007 in the United States, injuries, including all causes of unintentional and violence-related injuries combined, accounted for 51% of all deaths among persons ages 1-44 years of age – that is more deaths than non-communicable diseases and infectious diseases combined.
Visit the CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control for more information.
Want to help reduce injuries in your communities? Browse our Injury Prevention Resources here, and contact the Injury Prevention Committee to see how you can help!
Prevention and care are the antidotes to injury. When prevention succeeds, trauma is conquered. ATS is strongly committed to
the eradication of preventable injuries
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Prevention is also quality care which reduces the suffering and life-altering consequences of trauma. ATS develops and supports information and programs that prevent inquiries from occurring and, when that fails, provide quality trauma care for victims to prevent death and disability.
Please click on our Resources link for a number of downloadable PDF files that you can use in your injury prevention programs!
Trauma Prevention in Action
Scott Charles, Trauma Outreach Coordinator at Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA, leads the “Cradle to Grave” program, an intervention program he developed to prevent violence among inner city teens at one of Philadelphia’s busiest trauma centers. He takes the student participants, ages 12 to 18, through a reenactment of the final day of a 16-year-old multiple gunshot victim – from the moment he arrives at the trauma center to when his body is taken to the morgue. The goal: to see the real-life impact of getting shot – not just the media images on TV and in movies. Charles also intervenes directly with gunshot patients while they are in the hospital since they have a one in seven chance of getting shot again. The program is a model for other trauma centers since it works to heal patients physically and spiritually.
Scott won the coveted Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Community Health Leadership Award in 2008 for this groundbreaking program.
Please see other Injury Prevention News and stories of successful Injury Prevention Programs on our Injury Prevention News Page!