Stairway Injuries Among The Young Down, But Work Needs TO Be Done [AUDIO]

A national study shows childhood injuries from falling on stairs declined over a ten-year period. But there were still 90-thousand in 2008.

The study from the Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio credits the banning of baby walkers with helping reduce stairway injuries among the young. The hospital’s research shows child stairway injuries were reduced 11.6 percent from 1999 to the year 2008.

Most of the harm, about 35 percent, came from soft-tissue injuries, followed by cuts, about 26 percent, and closed-head injuries, about 20 percent. Fractures, dislocations and other injuries accounted for the rest, the study showed. Almost all of the injuries, nearly 95 percent, occurred at home, and about 88 percent of the injuries, or 817,000, were caused by simple falls. Still, children jumping or riding toys downstairs accounted for 2.6 percent of injuries, and another 2.7 percent were still hurt while using baby walkers.

Carol Ann Giardelli of Safe Kids New Jersey says in this multi-tasking world, parents may sometimes try to cut corners. “Let’s carry the laundry at the same time that we are carrying the children, and let’s save our steps.” Giardelli says we really should take our time and realize that the number one precaution that we take is keeping our children safe.”

Giardelli also advises parents to get down to the child’s level in the home to see things from their perspective, including the temptations they see around stairs to determine if we are adequately protecting against falls.