To understand the potential scope and impact of the injury prevention and control program, one must first understand the scope of the problem.

It is estimated that more than 3,000 injured Montana children under age fifteen require hospitalization each year with more that 80,000 requiring some form of medical intervention for injuries.

Injury is a major and costly public health problem. In 1992, there were an estimated 353 trauma deaths in Montana ...the leading cause of deaths among young people. It causes more deaths in this young age group than all other causes of death combined.

Montana loses an average of 30 years of productivity and taxable earnings each time a person dies from injury. The estimated lifetime cost of each injury death is about $450,000. The estimated annual cost of injury in Montana is more than $40 million in health care dollars.