A recent study on firearm injuries reveals that nearly 24 children get admitted to hospitals in the U.S. for firearm injuries everyday. On an average 6 percent of these children succumb to the injuries.
Researchers at the Yale School of Medicine found that mortality rates due to firearm injuries are significantly higher (10-fold higher) in the U.S. compared to other developed nations. Nearly 7,00,0 children get admitted to hospitals annually for firearm injuries.
"This study reinforces what we know from the mortality data," said Daniel Webster, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, in a statement. "We have an extraordinary health burden in our youth associated with firearms injuries."
The researchers have based their findings on the data collected from the discharge sheets for children and adolescents (up to age of 20) hospitalized due to firearm injuries in 2009. Nearly 7.391 patients were admitted for firearm injuries in that year and 453 young patients died.
Most of the admissions (4,559 cases) were related to assaults but for the children below 10, 75 percent of the 400 hospitalizations were due to unintentional accidental injuries. According to the researchers, a majority of the firearm carriers don't abide by the firearm safety measures as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Firearm injury cases have declined in recent years but after motor vehicle crashes, they are the second most common cause of death in teens between 15 and 19, according to a recent CDC report, reports USA Today.
The most common types of firm arm injuries reported are open wounds (52%); fractures (50%); and internal injuries of the thorax, abdomen or pelvis (34%), stated the researchers. Traumatic brain injury was more prevalent in children below five years. In such cases if the patient survives he/she needs to go for prolonged rehabilitation and counselling.
Male admission ratio was higher than females.15.22 per 100,000, compared to 1.93 per 100,000 for females.
The researchers stressed on some initiatives like educating the parents about firearm safety including safe storage of the weapon.
