Every day Americans experience the horror of fire. Each year more than 4,000 Americans die and approximately 20,000 are injured in fires, many of which could be prevented.
Simply installing smoke alarms on every level of your home and in every sleeping area, for instance, cuts the chances of dying in a home fire in half. Keeping matches, lighters and other heat sources out of children’s reach can help eliminate child-play fires – the leading cause of fire-related death for children 5 and under.
Preparation and education are key elements of preventing fire tragedies. Planning and practicing a fire escape route with your family, and talking to your children about what to expect in a fire, are simple steps anyone can take.
Life Safety
Injuries at play, at work and on our roads are the leading cause of death among Americans ages 1 to 41, and the fifth leading cause of death overall. In 2005, there were 113,000 injury-related deaths and 24,100,000 disabling injuries. One out of every nine Americans sought medical attention for their injuries.
Unintentional injuries continue to be the fifth leading cause of death in the US and accounted for two-thirds of all injury deaths from 1999-2004. At every age, the majority of injury deaths are unintentional, but the risk of death from unintentional injury rises dramatically for those over 70 years of age.
The cost of unintentional injuries in the United States is immense – $625.5 billion in 2005 or $2,100 for every person. Medical expenses, wage and productivity loss, and property damage all contribute to this staggering number, which is compounded by the enormous toll that pain and suffering inflicts on individuals, their families, and their communities.
Deaths from fires and burns are the fifth most common cause of unintentional injury deaths in the United States (CDC 2005) and the third leading cause of fatal home injury . The United State’s mortality rate from fires ranks sixth among the 25 developed countries for which statistics are available
Motor vehicle crashes remain the leading cause of unintentional injury-related death.
