500,000 children injured in Greece every year

Athens-based Pediatric Trauma Care (PTC) organisation announced today that close to 500,000 children are injured in Greece every year, out of which 700 die and 3,000 are incapacitated.

The PTC said that car accidents, falls, burns, drowning, electrocuting and poisoning are the principal causes of child injury, while delayed response and shortages in infrastructure and equipment can prove fatal.

"The amount of time elapsed between injury and stabilisation of the child’s condition needs to be kept at a minimum, so that the child does not succumb to its injuries,” members of the PTC said. This period is called “the golden hour" and it is crucial for increasing the survival rate.

PTC was created in order to address issues of inadequate infrastructure and information and protect every injured child’s right to have access to the appropriate medical and hospital care. The organisation has helped update the equipment of various hospitals' pediatrics wards and has organised seminars addressed to doctors, nurses, educators but also parents and children.