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School bus related deaths and injuries in New South Wales
1Department of Surgical Research, New Children's Hospital, Sydney, NSW. dannyc@mail.kids.usyd.edu.au
Objective:
To report the circumstances of paediatric bus related deaths and injuries in New South Wales (NSW) to identify preventable factors.
Design:
Retrospective survey using two surveillance systems-the NSW Paediatric Death Review Database and the Childsafe Injury Surveillance System.
Patients:
Children (0-14 years of age) who died or were injured as a result of a school bus related incident.
Results:
Twenty-two deaths and 58 injuries were recorded. Three of the children who died were passengers (two deaths were due to errant behaviour), two were alighting from the bus (bus door entrapment) and 17 (77%) were pedestrians crossing the road before or as the bus departed. The major causes of death were head injury and blood loss. Seventeen of the injured children were pedestrians and most (82%) of these sustained serious injury requiring admission to hospital.
Conclusions:
The greatest risk to schoolchildren from bus related injuries was as pedestrians after alighting from a bus, especially when moving behind the bus. Preventable factors include slowing of traffic (40 kph) near stationary school buses, and parents waiting on the side of the road where the child alights from the bus. Continuing road safety education remains important for schoolchildren and parents as well as for drivers.