Province Acting on National Injury Report Findings
HEALTH PROMOTION/HEALTH--Province Acting on National Injury Report Findings
Nova Scotia is ramping up efforts to help people avoid the kinds of preventable injuries highlighted in the National Trauma Registry Report released today, Dec. 10.
The report, National Trauma Registry: Major Injury in Canada, released by the Canadian Institute for Health Information, says the leading causes of major injury in Canada in 2000-01 were motor vehicle collisions and unintentional falls.
Similar findings were included in the province's first annual trauma registry report, which was released in September. The province's report analyzed information on major injuries in Nova Scotia.
"Injury is the leading cause of death for people under 45, yet most injuries are both predictable and preventable. Our recently developed provincial injury prevention strategy will help us address this serious public health issue," said Health Promotion Minister Rodney MacDonald. "Government is committed to the implementation of this strategy, and we're in the process of hiring an injury prevention co-ordinator, funded jointly by the Office of Health Promotion, Environment and Labour, and Transportation and Public Works."
Many government and non-government partners are working on injury prevention efforts in Nova Scotia, including the province's Road Safety Advisory Committee, the Emergency Health Services Nova Scotia Trauma Program, the Workers' Compensation Board of Nova Scotia, Preventing Falls Together, Child Safety Link, various Safe Communities sites, the Nova Scotia Safety Council, the Red Cross, the Brain Injury Association of Nova Scotia, Spinal Cord Injury Prevention Nova Scotia, and many other groups and individuals concerned about injury.
"The responsibility for injury prevention rests with many government departments. The new strategy will allow departments, together with non-government partners, to improve collaboration on initiatives to reduce injury across Nova Scotia," said Kerry Morash, acting Minister of Transportation and Public Works. "Each individual Nova Scotian can also contribute to our improvement through safety conscious choices, whether driving, walking, playing, working or performing other activities."
The injury prevention strategy recognizes all injuries among all age groups, and will address areas such as education and public awareness, legislation and enforcement, public policy, engineering and urban planning, as well as monitoring and surveillance.
The ability to collect information about serious injury is an essential component of a comprehensive injury prevention strategy.
"This trauma registry provides essential information if we wish to find ways to reduce the burden of trauma in our province," said Dr. John Tallon, medical director of the Emergency Health Services Trauma Program. "Our annual reports will tell us how many people are seriously hurt in Nova Scotia, including their types of injuries, and how they were injured."
Nova Scotia's trauma registry is unique in Canada. Unlike other registries, it provides population-based data on all major trauma cases in the province. Registry administrators monitor major trauma cases by collecting data from all regional hospitals in Nova Scotia. The registry also includes information on all persons who die of injury but never make it to hospital, thanks to a unique relationship with the medical examiner's office.
Dr. Tallon said injury surveillance is vital for research, as well as evaluating the treatment of trauma and developing successful prevention and education strategies.
"Monitoring trauma in Nova Scotia will also help tell us if future strategies are working, and what new trends in injury are emerging," he said.
More than 400 people die each year in Nova Scotia as a result of injury, with an average of two dozen people admitted to hospital each day in the province as a result of injury.
The province's first annual trauma registry report can be found at www.gov.ns.ca/health/ehs .