Falling Down and Dead — Accident Rates Upward

June 14, 2016

picassoSunshine cured with a chilly northwestern wind here this near-noon Tuesday on California’s north coast — rain-chance still on for maybe Thursday, but still gorgeous weather right now.

In this era of mass shootings, and whatnot, Americans are also dying from getting old and just falling down.
New research indicates US accidental deaths are at record highs, the demise coming from drugs, car crashes, diseases, an assortment of calamitous situations, and of course, firearms: ‘People think murder is a big risk in America, but there are eight accidental deaths for every homicide. And there are more than two times as many suicides as murders, with suicides by gun steadily increasing.’

Cited as ‘unintentional injury,’ we do it right…

(Illustration: Pablo Picasso’s ‘Head of a Woman,’ found here).

Americans are a frail-like people, who apparently feel as if they could do no wrong, from overeating to driving drunk. And just getting old and health going to the shits.
The new study shows we’re not in a good place. More fromĀ Tech Times last Sunday:

The National Safety Council (NSC) found the number of Americans dying of accidents, including unintentional overdoses, has increased in recent years.
During 2014, a total of 136,000 Americans died from accidental causes, an increase of 4.2 percent over the previous year.
Over the 10 years previous to the latest one recorded in the study, accidental deaths rose by 15.5 percent.
This averages out to one accidental death every four minutes across the United States.
“Every individual has the opportunity to make choices to keep themselves safe. It’s all preventable. Every accident is preventable, but it’s not necessarily the [fault] of the victim,” Ken Kolosh, director of the (NSC) said.
The 42,000 Americans who perished from overdoses and accidental poisonings are now greater than the number of people who died in traffic accidents.
Traffic fatalities have been reduced in recent years by changes in licensing requirements for teenagers, as well as improved safety features in cars.
Because of these changes, far fewer youth are dying on roads, compared to fatality rates in 1981.
Fatal falls have become far more common in recent years, totaling almost 32,000 in 2014, compared with fewer than 10,000 in 1992.
Researchers believe that an aging American population is the underlying cause of increased deaths from falling.
Senior citizens are at far greater risk of dying when they fall than younger people.
“In 2013, unintentional injuries were the eighth leading cause of death among U.S. adults aged 65 and over, resulting in nearly 46,000 deaths,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated on its website.

Apparently, heart disease remains top killer — more than 614,000 people annually; cancer nags another nearly 592,000 Americans.
And this bonehead stat: ‘Medical errors have now risen to no. 3 on the list of most common causes of death.’

Even going potty (via USNews&WorldReport):

The safety council report veers from the deadly to the strange: Toilet accidents sent 112,412 people to the emergency room in 2014, more than saws, hammers, or even trampolines and swimming pools but not nearly as much as carpets and floors.
Slippery floors and rugs send nearly 1.6 million people to the emergency room a year.
“Bathrooms are a relatively dangerous place,” Kolosh said, adding that it’s mostly an issue of elderly people falling.

Be careful out there, be watchful of…everything?

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