|
Child Health News
Published: Monday, 7-Aug-2006
Despite current safety efforts, thousands of
U.S. children need emergency medical care
for preventable lawn mower-related injuries
each year.
According to a study published in the August
issue of Pediatrics and conducted by
researchers at the Center for Injury
Research and Policy (CIRP) in the Columbus
Children's Research Institute at Columbus
Children's Hospital, an average of 9,400
persons 20 years old and younger receive
treatment in a U.S. hospital emergency
department annually, with 25% of the
injuries incurred by children younger than
five years.
Using data from the National Electronic
Injury Surveillance System of the U.S.
Consumer Product Safety Commission,
researchers analyzed an estimated 140,700
lawn mower-related injuries to children who
were 20 years of age and younger treated in
hospital emergency departments from 1990
through 2004.
"Lawn mowers are an important cause of
pediatric injury," said CIRP Director Gary
Smith, MD, DrPH, the senior study author and
a faculty member of The Ohio State
University (OSU) College of Medicine. "We
found that the annual number of lawn
mower-related injuries remained relatively
consistent during the 15-year period
studied, which demonstrates that current
injury prevention strategies are inadequate.
'Passive' (or automatic) protection that is
provided by safer product design is the
strategy with the highest likelihood of
success in preventing these types of
injuries."
Boys sustained 78% of the injuries with the
average age of those injured falling between
10 and 11 years old. Lacerations (41%) were
the leading type of injury, followed by soft
tissue injuries (21%), burns (15%) and
fractures (10%). The most common body region
involved was the hand/finger (34%), followed
by lower extremity (almost 19%) and foot/toe
(nearly 18%). Eye and facial injuries
accounted for 10% and upper extremity
injuries accounted for 7%. Ninety-seven
percent of amputation injuries occurred to
the foot/toe (nearly 50%) and hand/finger
(47%). Nearly 87% of the injuries among
children who were hospitalized involved
amputations, lacerations, or fractures.
David Vollman, the other study author from
the OSU College of Medicine, said, "We
recommend revision of the American National
Standards Institute/Outdoor Power Equipment
Institute voluntary safety standard
(B71.1-2003) to include more rigorous
performance provisions regarding prevention
of penetration of feet and toes under the
mower and into the path of the blades. We
also recommend better shielding of hot mower
parts from access by young children and
equipping all ride-on lawn mowers with a
no-mow-in-reverse default feature."
"The over-ride switch for the
no-mow-in-reverse feature should be located
behind the ride-on mower operator," Smith
added, "This would require the operator to
look behind the mower before disengaging
this safety feature and mowing in reverse.
This simple design change could prevent
hundreds of devastating back-over injuries
to children each year in this country."
"The American Academy of Pediatrics
recommends picking up objects from the lawn
before mowing and use of a grass catcher or
shield for the mower discharge area to
reduce the risk of foreign body
projectiles," Vollman said. "It's also
important to wear eye protection and long
pants while mowing to reduce the risk of
injury from objects being flung outward from
the mower blades."
"Mowing the lawn at home or as a source of
employment for youngsters is almost a rite
of passage in this country," Smith said. "It
is tragic that this activity continues to
cause tremendous pain and suffering, and in
many cases permanent disabilities, when
improved product design standards could
prevent most lawn mower-related injuries."
http://www.columbuschildrens.com
|
