Frequency and causes of injuries of children in pre-hospital emergency care

Injuries represent the greatest danger for children and the most frequent cause of their death. A certain dangerous situation precedes every injury and as such it can always be prevented. Emergency rescue teams provide professional urgent pre-hospital care. Based on theoretical knowledge and practical experience of a member of a rescue team providing pre-hospital urgent care, two research objectives were determined. Objective no. 1 was to map out the number of children{\crq}s injuries in the regional centre of České Budějovice between 2004-2008. Objective no. 2 was to analyze the situations in which children of various ages get injured. Three hypotheses were determined. Hypothesis no. 1 ``Children living in towns get injured more frequently than children in villages``, was not confirmed. Hypothesis no. 2 ``Children up to 6 years of age most frequently suffer injuries when they are at home and their parents are not cautious enough``, was confirmed. The last determined hypothesis ``Children between 6 {--} 18 years of age get injured during active sports and traffic accidents most frequently``, was confirmed. It is more efficient to invest in preventative activities that reduce the number and seriousness of injuries in children. If we take measures to prevent injuries, the number of fatalities will go down