Furthermore, unintentional injuries are the leading cause in Texas of years of potential life lost. For every death there are many more Texans seriously injured, often resulting in permanent disability. In 1989, almost 115,000 Texans were hospitalized for a traumatic injury. Twenty-six percent of this cost was uncompensated. Unintentional injuries account for about two-thirds of these costs.
Injuries are preventable.
The effectiveness of interventions to reduce injury is quite high. Trauma Registry data is helping to monitor the effectiveness of injury interventions. Preventing unintentional injuries makes economic sense. Without a solid foundation of data, it is difficult to identify and assess situations where interventions might effectively reduce the devastating effects and costs of injuries. Some data on injury mortality are available, however, the Trauma Registry is establishing a statewide system to collect injury morbidity data.