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14
Home Safety
In February the General Purposes Committee considered a letter
from the Harrow branch of the National Council of Women of Great
Britain suggesting the formation of a Home Safety Committee in the
borough. A borough which is not a health authority cannot itself set up
such a committee, but can make a grant to assist the work of an independent
Home Safety Committee. Pending any other action, the Public
Health Committee assumed responsibility for any functions of the Council
in regard to this matter.
Many of the deaths from accidents in the home are those which occur
to old people as the result of falls. A proportion of these are preventable.
The difficulty though is to make these people aware of the simple measures
which they should take to reduce the numbers of these falls. Those
living in residential institutions and those who are members of clubs who
can be got in touch with, are but a small proportion of the population at
risk. Unfortunately many of these falls are not preventable, as they seem
to result from some sudden loss of power in the limbs which cannot be
foreseen. Fatal poisonings from coal gas are increasing in numbers,
especially amongst the aged. Most of these fatalities are the result of a
gas tap being left on. The loss of sense of smell in old people prevents
the escape of the gas being detected.
In regard to accidents suffered by children, there is more hope of
something being done to reduce these by the attention of mothers being
drawn to the various risks. This is essentially one of the duties of the
health visitors and of those at the clinics. The Public Health Inspectors
have their part to play by having this question of accidents in their minds
whenever they are visiting a home. By advice, they can avert accidents
being suffered by different members of the family.
Deaths from Suicide
18 men and 17 women committed suicide during 1956. The
corresponding figures for 1955 were 14 and 8. Nine of the men and 13
of the women chose poisoning by coal gas. Five men and three women
chose a form of poisoning other than coal gas. Two, one of each sex,
drowned themselves. One man hanged himself, and one threw himself
under a train.
There seems to be no set pattern of distribution of these occurrences.
In some years the incidence is fairly even throughout the year. This year
six took place in September, seven in October, five in June, four in April
and three in May; the only two months free from such occurrences were
August and December. Most of those who chose to end their lives were
between 40 and 70 years of age: one was an adolescent, one in his twenties,
four in their thirties, one seventy and two were over 80.
Deaths from Cancer
Of the 1,093 deaths of residents in this district, 420 were due to cancer,
this causing 23 per cent. of the deaths of males and 20 per cent. of the
deaths of females.
Of the 224 deaths from this cause amongst males, in 65 the site was