South African Child Injury Statistics

Trauma Injuries, Red Cross Childrens' Hospital, 1 April 1997 - 31 March 1998

Source: Child Accident Prevention Foundation of Southern Africa (CAPFSA), Red Cross Children's Hospital.

CAUSE MALE FEMALE TOTAL NUMBER
OF CASES		 PERCENTAGE
Motor Vehicle Accident 787 384 1171 18
Assault 123 95 218 3
Burns 274 207 481 7
Falls 1536 976 2512 39
Struck by/Against Object 402 200 602 9
Caught between object 128 103 231 4
Sharp Instrument 187 87 274 4
Firearm 27 15 42 1
Dog bites 59 39 98 2
Food foreign body 14 17 31 1
Other foreign body 140 130 270 4
Other cause 184 144 328 5
Unknown 93 80 173 3
TOTAL 3954 2477 6431 100

Detailed Statistics by Cause

CAUSE <1 1-4 5-9 10-14 >14 TOTAL
MVA Pedestrian Tran 8 156 418 141 2 725
MVA Passenger - Restrained 1 7 14 9 - 31
MVA Passenger - Unrestrained 8 40 35 32 1 116
MVA PassengerBakkie 4 12 57 28 - 101
MVA Cycle - 26 72 63 - 161
MVA Motorcycle - - 4 3 - 7
MVA Other, e.g. boat, horse - 3 8 19 - 30
MVA TOTAL 21 244 608 295 3 1171
Blunt assault 14 18 42 31 - 105
Sharp assault 4 6 12 17 1 40
Rape/sexual assault 1 8 17 9 - 35
Human bite assault - 3 2 - - 5
Other assault 3 5 15 10 - 33
ASSAULT TOTAL 22 40 88 67 1 218
Flame burn 5 15 21 20 1 62
Fluid burn 83 189 62 19 - 353
Heat contact burn 7 16 2 - - 25
Electrical burn 3 3 - - - 6
Chemical burn 3 3 4 1 - 11
Explosion burn 1 2 7 1 - 11
Other burn 2 8 2 1 - 13
TOTAL BURNS 104 236 98 42 1 481
Off bed fall 101 117 54 11 - 283
Stairs/steps fall 11 61 37 17 - 126
Attendants arms fall 47 36 7 3 - 93
Playground equip.fall 1 39 158 46 - 244
Mobiles fall 24 16 24 25 - 89
Other heights fall 37 161 262 126 2 588
On level fall 49 336 477 220 7 1089
FALLS TOTAL 270 766 1019 448 9 2512
Struck by/against 31 165 226 178 2 602
Caught between 8 106 89 27 1 231
Sharp instrument 10 61 131 70 2 274
Firearm 4 7 19 12 - 42
Machinery - 2 - 2 - 4
Dog bite 3 21 45 29 - 98
Other bite 1 1 2 2 - 6
Immersion/drowning - 1 - - - 1
Suffocation - - - - - -
Food foreign body 2 16 13 - - 31
Other foreign body 18 123 106 22 1 270
Other cause 42 151 63 59 2 317
Unknown 47 78 34 12 2 173
TOTAL 583 2018 2541 1265 24 6431