The public venue includes any preventable injury incident other than motor vehicle that occurs in the public use of any premises. It includes deaths in recreation (swimming, hunting, etc.), in transportation (except motor vehicle), in public buildings, etc., and from widespread natural disasters, even though some may have happened on home premises. The public venue excludes incidents to people in the course of gainful employment. The number of deaths in the public sector decreased 10% in 2024. Despite this improvement in the last 10 years, preventable deaths in public places have increased 39%, while the death rate has increased 31%.
Preventable Injuries and Injury-Related Deaths
in Public Places, 2024
The number of public preventable injury-related deaths decreased from 49,600 in 2023 to 44,500 in 2024. The 2024 death rate per 100,000 population decreased 11.7% from 14.8 per 100,000 population in 2023 to 13.1.
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With an estimated 15.6 million medically consulted preventable injuries occurring in public places and a population of more than 340 million people, on average about 1 person in 22 experienced such an injury in 2024.
The two leading causes of preventable injury-related deaths in public places are poisoning and falls, accounting for about 17,000 and 15,000, respectively. These two causes alone account for 72% of public deaths. The next two leading causes of death are choking and drowning, each accounting for about 6% of public deaths. No other cause accounted for more than 1% of public deaths.
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Source: National Safety Council (NSC) estimates based on data from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) and state vital statistics departments.