Unintentional Injury

Unintentional" is used to refer to injuries that were unplanned. Unintentional injuries can be defined as events in which:

• The injury occurs in a short period of time - seconds or minutes,
• The harmful outcome was not sought, or
• The outcome was the result of one of the forms of physical energy in the environment or normal body functions being blocked by external means, e.g., drowning.

The most common unintentional injuries result from motor vehicle crashes, falls, fires and burns, drowning, poisonings and aspirations.

The Maine Injury Prevention Program focuses its unintentional injury prevention efforts in the following areas:

• Home Safety
• Traffic Safety
• Safe Communities