A survey reveals that everyday accidents kill more than 20,000 people every year. Falls, fires, drownings, they represent the third cause of death in France.
Falls, fires, drowning, poisoning … Accidents of everyday life (Acvc) could, in most cases, be avoided. A survey, carried out by the association Gema Prévention and Opinion Way, shows that the French are not aware of the dangers of everyday life. Yet they kill nearly 20,000 people a year. The third leading cause of death in France.
These accidents mainly affect children and the elderly. They are the leading cause of death in children aged 1 to 4. And a serious domestic accident occurs every three minutes in France.
Another observation is that everyday accidents are minimized by the French. Mothers of families confuse those of everyday life with road accidents. “They even cite the latter first, among the most dangerous everyday accidents,” says Gema Prévention. However, if road insecurity killed 3,645 people in 2012, we are far from the 20,000 deaths due to Acvc.
In addition, when mothers are asked about the classification of the most frequent accidents, they are still wrong. In order of importance, they cite falls, burns, poisoning (which killed no less than 1,376 people in 2008) and drowning most recently, even though it is the leading cause of death in those under 25.
In addition, the perception of dangerous places is also far from reality. While housing concentrates the majority of risks, 22% believe that no room in the house is potentially a danger. The only positive note is that the French clearly identify the kitchen as the least safe place in the home.
But at the same time they underestimate the risks in some other rooms. They cite the bathroom (39%), then the garage (27%), the garden (16%) and finally the living room (7%) as danger zones, even though the latter is precisely at high risk, because 21 % of accidents occur there.
Conclusion of the authors of the study, a better knowledge of the dangers would make it possible to avoid many accidents of everyday life. Alerting your children to the risks, or even securing your house or swimming pool are among the recommendations that are well known but still ignored, underlines the study.
Finally, the survey reports that nearly one in five French people do not know the fire brigade call number and one in four do not know how to contact the police or the Samu. What to be completely ineffective, however, in these emergency situations, every second counts to save a life. So, a little reminder, if you are the victim of an everyday accident, dial 15 for the SAMU, 18 for the firefighters, or 01 40 05 48 48 for the Poison Control Centers.
.
