London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Southall 1963
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Southall]
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The number who died as a result of accident other than motor vehicle accident was increased over that for the previous year—21 in 1963 and 14 in 1962. Twelve of the accidental deaths were the result of accident in the home, six happened in hospital, one on the railway, and two were found drowned.
| Cause of Death | Age | Sex |
|---|---|---|
| Fall from window | 79 | M |
| Found dead on railway line | 21 | M |
| Inhaled carbon monoxide (domestic gas) | 85 | M |
| Fell downstairs | 75 | M |
| Fell at home | 80 | M |
| Fell at home | 91 | M |
| Inhaled carbon monoxide (domestic gas) | 56 | M |
| Inhaled carbon monoxide (domestic gas) | 58 | M |
| Inhaled carbon monoxide (fumes from solid fuel boiler) | 63 | M |
| Alcoholic poisoning | 40 | M |
| Cholecystectomy for gall stones | 68 | M |
| Asphyxia due to drowning | 8 | F |
| Asphyxia due to drowning | 63 | F |
| Fell in hospital | 89 | F |
| Fell in hospital | 83 | F |
| Sat in bath of hot water | 71 | F |
| Fell in hospital | 66 | F |
| Fell at home | 80 | F |
| Inhaled carbon monoxide (domestic gas) | 76 | F |
| Inhalation of vomit | 36 | F |
| Shock due to house burning down | 73 | F |
There were 8 suicides, 1 more than in 1962; 4 swallowed drugs; 1 was found hanged,
and 2 died from gas poisoning, and 1 from a self-inflicted wound. The ages of these varied
from 30 to 61.
Education on safety in the home was much more extensive in 1963, and more action
was taken nationally as well as locally on the improvement of house design, furnishing
design, kitchen equipment design for safety. The new watchdogs for safety, the Consumer's
Council, are reinforcing the work done in the past only by Voluntary Women's Societies to
help the Medical Officer in the fight against shoddy, cheap, dangerous products, and during
the year the need for legislation with regard to the sale of children's nightwear, which was
easy to set alight, became a matter of immediate importance, with the prospect of obtaining
a ban on such sale.
It will be seen from the table above that the great majority of accidental deaths occurred
in people over the age of 60, the principle causes being falls or gas poisoning, so that
much work still needs to be done on the safety of homes. Too many houses in which elderly
people live are not provided with safety taps for gas cookers, or hand rails to assist the
occupants in getting from room to room. The figure for deaths from home accidents, of
course, is a very small indication of the number of accidents that occur in homes, and many
of the persons sustaining accidents at home and recovering after treatment in hospital are
disabled in some respect for the rest of their lives. Faulty electrical wiring, absence of fireguards,
worn carpets and linoleum, amateur alterations to gas and electric fittings, poison
bottles and containers of insecticides and weed killers, are unsuitably labelled and only too
ready to the hands of children and even of older persons groping carelessly in dark cupboards
or on shelves, and these matters have, unfortunately, to be pointed out day after day in
individual houses, and generally to the public by all the health education methods, press
publicity, poster publicity, radio and television.
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