The Grey Bruce Health Unit wants local residents to be a little more careful.
The Health Unit has released stats from years 2000 to 2009 that show there are about 80 emergency room visits in Grey Bruce every day for treatment of largely preventable unintentional injuries.
Senior Epidemiologist Alanna Leffley says that represents a 101 per cent increase on the provincial average.
Leffley notes Grey Bruce also has a 72 per cent higher rate for unintentional falls, and 43 per cent more motor vehicle crashes.
Furthermore, males get hurt 41 per cent more often than females.
Even more troubling is that on average, someone in Grey Bruce dies every week from an injury — pushing our mortality rate 36 per cent higher than the Ontario average.
These deaths and hospitalizations also put a tremendous financial strain on our local healthcare system.
Leffley says there are a number of factors the high injury rate can be attributed to.
For starters, Grey Bruce has a large elderly population — and falls are common.
Alcohol related injuries are high, and being a rural area, there are a lot of farm related injuries as well.
Leffley says local residents needs to change their mind set when it comes to preventable injuries.
She says when people get hurt, they often just chalk it up to having an “accident” when really, they should look at what factors caused the injury.
