Injury Prevention
Unintentional Injuries: The Hidden Epidemic

Examples of unintentional injuries are motor vehicle collisions, drownings, suffocation, falls, recreational injuries, burns, scalds, dog bites, poisonings and a range of other incidents where there is no deliberate intention to harm yourself or others.

Where do they happen?

Injuries can happen:

• At home
• At work
• At school
• During recreational activities

Can they be prevented?

• Nine out of ten injuries are predictable and preventable but people do not always recognize the risks in their lives. Risk is part of life, however, risk of injury can be greatly reduced by planning ahead and using common sense in your  activities.

• Individuals, workplaces and community organizations have the power to prevent injuries. It just requires thinking about possible problems before they happen.

• Each one of us can do something everyday to prevent an injury just by “thinking prevention”.

Why is Injury Prevention Important?

Preventing injuries is very important to New Brunswickers. “Every hour of everyday 36 people in Atlantic Canada are unintentionally injured (over 860/day), roughly two people die daily, from their injuries and almost 6700 are disabled every year.”* People who are injured face personal pain and suffering; they may loose time from work, school or recreation; their mobility and/or quality of life can be negatively impacted; and, there are major costs for the health care system when New Brunswickers are seriously injured.

Injury Facts and Figures

In the report entitled “The Economic Burden of Unintentional Injury in Atlantic Canada”*, (prepared by SMARTRISK for the Atlantic Network of Injury Prevention and funded with support from Royal & SunAlliance, and Health Canada), it states that:

“Injuries are the leading cause of death for all Canadians between the ages of 1 and 44 and injuries are the fourth leading cause of death overall for Canadians of all ages (Statistics Canada data for 1998)."

Leading Causes of Death in Canada

Table developed by RHA 2, Atlantic Health Sciences Corporation

• “Preventable injuries cost the people of New Brunswick $502 million, annually, or $664 for every citizen. Falls accounted for $172 million or 34 per cent of the total amount. Motor vehicle crashes cost $91 million or roughly 18 per cent of the $502 million.
  
  
• According to Statistics Canada, NB workers are more likely than other Canadians to be seriously injured on the job. About 19,000 New Brunswickers, or 5% of the working population, suffered at least one activity-limiting injury at work, in 2003. That’s compared to 3.8% for the rest of Canada. NB has a higher number of workers with jobs involving physical labour where the injury rate is 10% compared to 4% in other occupations.
  
  
• Prevention costs less than treatment. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
  
  
• What is the bottom line? Everyone has a role to play in preventing injuries. Plan ahead. Think prevention.

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