By Jay Foster, Attorney and David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
Unfortunately Mississippi has been ranked as the State with the highest rate of child deaths in the nation. This is a distinction or ranking that no State would ever relish or want. The Child Death Review Panel for the Mississippi Department of Health has a mission to study the death rates, causes of death, and work to reduce these numbers or statistics. Each year, the Mississippi Child Death Review Panel studies these very important issues and then makes recommendations in hopes of preventing deaths to Mississippi children from causes or dangers that can be removed or lessened through the work and efforts of parents, care givers, driver, and health care providers. See Reporting and Bringing Down Child Death Rate in Mississippi. The various causes of death to children in the State of Mississippi included the following:
SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome);
Automobile Accidents (accounted for the greatest number of preventable deaths);
ATV (All Terrain Vehicle) Crashes;
Firearm or Shooting Accidents, Incidents, and Homicide;
Fire Deaths; and
Child Drownings.
The death of a child takes a toll on a family and the entire community. Statistics are just numbers. While these are important numbers and studies, they do not account for the number of lives that are affected or the impact that the deaths have on the parents, siblings, and other family members.