ResalesNew Study Finds Home Is More Dangerous Than We Think
There"s no place like home when it comes to having a place to underscore our
sense of security and safety. But a recently released study finds that aside
from motor vehicle accidents, home is the most common location of fatal
accidents.
The Home Safety Council, a not-for-profit organization created by Lowe"s, focuses on the
prevention and education of home injuries.
The State of Home Safety in America report is the Home Safety Council"s
statistical report of unintentional home injuries in the United States,
including causes, costs and victims. The Home Safety Council worked in
conjunction with the University of North Carolina Injury Prevention Research
Center to create a comprehensive benchmark of the current status of home
safety in the minds and homes of Americans.
The report said there are 20,000 home fatalities each year and 20 million
medical visits due to unintentional home injuries. Falls are the most common
injury, followed by poisonings, fires, inhalations, and suffocation and
drowning.
"The tragedy is made worse by the fact that the vast majority of injuries in
the home are entirely preventable," said David Oliver, president and
executive director of the Home Safety Council. "Our findings make it clear
that for most people the problem is invisible. They don mosquito repellant
to guard against the well-publicized West Nile Virus, while failing to
realize that falls and fires at home pose a far greater risk of death."
To compile the report the research center analyzed existing data from death
certificates, emergency departments and clinic record and other safety
studies that involve injuries in the home.
And the Council says the problem likely goes much deeper than the numbers.
For example, the numbers don"t reflect the number of home injuries that
might be included in the more than one-third of non-transportation injury
deaths for which location was never recorded.
Meanwhile, the study finds that the state with the least number of
home-related deaths is Massachusetts, followed by Utah, Maryland, Minnesota,
and New York.
Which state has the dubious distinction of the most home-related injuries?
New Mexico. The other top danger-prone states are District of Columbia,
Arizona, Mississippi, and Wisconsin.
The report says that further research is needed to come up with an
explanation of why some states are home to more accidental deaths and
injuries at home than others.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says falls in
the home are especially prevalent among Americans 65 and older. In fact, one
in three in that age range suffers a fall each year. And about 20 to 30
percent of those people experience moderate to severe injuries.
And half of those falls occur at home, the CDC says. The CDC offers these
tips for decreasing the risk of older Americans falling at home:
Remove things you can trip over (such as papers, books, clothes, and
shoes) from stairs and places where you walk.
Remove small throw rugs or use double-sided tape to keep the rugs from
slipping.
Keep items you use often in cabinets you can reach easily without using a
step stool.
Have grab bars put in next to your toilet and in the tub or shower.
Use non-slip mats in the bathtub and on shower floors.
Improve the lighting in your home. As you get older, you need brighter
lights to see well. Lamp shades or frosted bulbs can reduce glare.
Have handrails and lights put in on all staircases.
Wear shoes that give good support and have thin non-slip soles. Avoid
wearing slippers and athletic shoes with deep treads.
So if you or a loved one live in an environment conducive to falls and other
injuries, it"s important to make the home as safe as possible.
Meanwhile, fire is the second leading cause of unintentional death in the
home, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Nearly 3,200 people die in residential fires
each year, and there are more than 390,000 residential fires reported to fire departments.
Although 90 percent of homes in the United States have smoke alarms
installed, the CPCS has found that about 20 percent of the alarms were not
working, primarily because the battery was dead or missing.
"Smoke alarms can save lives, but they won"t work if they are not
maintained," said CPSC Chairwoman Ann Brown. "They should be tested monthly,
and the batteries should be replaced at least once a year or when they make
a "chirping" sound."
The council is aiming to educate the public about how to make their homes
safer through simple measures like replacing smoke detectors and removing
dangers that lead to injurious falls.
Said Oliver, the president of the Home Safety Council, "Many Americans don"t
make things safer because for the most part they don"t even know the problem