Perceived risk of home fire and escape plans in rural households.

Background: Homes in rural areas have a higher fire death rate. Although successful exit from a home fire could greatly reduce fire-related deaths and injuries, little is known about factors associated with behaviors of developing and practicing an escape plan.

Methods: Between July 2003 and June 2004, a baseline survey was administered, in person, to 691 rural households.

Population-based assessment of burn injury in southern Iowa: identification of children and young-adult at-risk groups and behaviors.

Although nonfatal burn injuries vastly outnumber fatal injuries, their epidemiology is not well defined. We sought to determine the epidemiology of nonfatal burn injuries in a largely rural region of a midwestern state to target intervention efforts at populations and injury mechanisms at risk. Data were retrospectively collected on a population-based sample of medically treated burn injuries in 10 counties in southern Iowa from 1997 to 1999 using International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification codes (ICD-9-CM, Ncode 940-949) to identify burn-related emergency room visits from computerized lists.