Traumatic deaths of children in the United States: currently available prevention strategies

Abstract

The causes of traumatic deaths of children 14 years of age and younger in the United States are presented. Available prevention strategies to decrease injury fatalities due to various causes are described, and the number of preventable deaths is calculated. With the implementation of only 12 currently available prevention strategies, childhood deaths from trauma could be reduced by 29% in the United States. The implications of these strategies are discussed, as well as the area for which no effective countermeasures exist and which require further epidemiologic and investigative research.