Road accidents still top injury cause

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

THE Department of Health (DOH) revealed Wednesday that transport/vehicular accidents remains as the number one cause of injuries during the third quarter of 2011.

In a statement, Health Secretary Enrique Ona said that of the 6,515 injury cases recorded by the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) in July to September 2011, more than one in every four came from transport/vehicular crash incidents.

"A total of 1,860 transport/vehicular crash-related injury cases were also reported in the third quarter of 2011,” noted Ona.

Of this data, more than half or 50.7 percent involved motorcycles as the mode of transport.

Aside from transport/vehicular–related injuries, other injury causes include mauling (21.6%), fall (18%), contact with sharp objects (15.1%), bites/stings (6.4%), burns (2%), gunshots (1.4%), chemicals (0.1%), hanging (0.1%), and drowning (0.1%).

Most commonly sustained types of injuries were open wound/laceration (42.6%), abrasion (28.4%), contusion (19.2%), closed fracture (10.5%), avulsion (2.9%), burn (2.2%), concussion (2.4%), open fracture (1.4%), and traumatic amputation (0.4%).

The NEISS data came from 47 reporting government and private hospitals, said the DOH.

With this, Ona called on the public to wear their seatbelts and their helmets in a bid to avoid injuries.

On the other hand, he urged enforcement agencies to strictly implement both the “Mandatory Helmet Act of 2010” and the “Seatbelt Use Act of 1999”.

“We should always have our safety in mind. Wearing seatbelts and our helmets could sometimes be the difference between life and death,” said Ona. (AMN/Sunnex)