Since 1995, the American Public Health Association has coordinated a National Public Health Week during the first full week of April. The goal of the week is to raise awareness of public health issues and educate and motivate the public, policymakers, health professionals and others. Over the past 16 years, National Public Health Week has grown into a wide variety of activities at schools, in the news, at professional organizations and much more.
This year’s theme is Safety is NO Accident: Live Injury-Free, putting a focus on deaths and injuries caused by accidents and what we can do to prevent them. Here is a news article in today’s online Point Pleasant Register (in West Virginia). It features the importance of safety measures to reduce injury and death during recreational activities, especially for children.
Copied from the article online:
National Public Health Week continues: Recreational safety observed todayby From the Mason Co. Health DepartmentPOINT PLEASANT — National Public Health Week continues today with the observance of recreation safety.It takes just a minute to prevent recreation-related injuries and make ourselves and communities safer. Though it’s not something people typically think about or plan for, the potential for injury is all around us. Each year, nearly 150,000 people die from injuries, and almost 30 million people are hurt seriously enough to go to the emergency room. Taking part in sports and recreation activities are an important part of a health and physically active lifestyle. However, poor training practices and not wearing the proper protective gear can place us at risk for injuries.It is estimated that 75% of bicycle related fatalities among children could be prevented with a bicycle helmet. Any child through the age of 13 is required to wear a helmet. Although adults are not required to wear helmets, cycling accidents happen to all age groups. Wearing a bicycle helmet reduces the risk of head injury by as much as 85% and severe brain injury by as much as 88%….
