Injury is the leading cause of death and hospitalization for children, youth and adults (to age 44) in British Columbia.

From 1990 to 2003 (May), among children 0-19 years old, there were more than 95,000 visits due to injuries at the Emergency Department of the BC Children’s Hospital.

There are lots of great resources for parents and kids to prevent injuries:

Safe Start is the injury prevention program of BC Children’s Hospital. They provide community-based programs to prevent unintentional injuries among children from birth to five years of age.

The BC Injury Research and Prevention Unit (BCIRPU) is part of a province-wide partnership between the Centre for Community Child Health Research, BC Ministry of Health and BC Children’s Hospital to address critical gaps in the injury prevention field in BC. BCIRPU is a leader in the development of evidence-based prevention strategies, and enjoys a solid reputation among the provincial, national and international injury prevention communities.

The BCIRPU has great fact sheets on a number of injury prevention strategies for kids and their families.