FATAL DOMESTIC ACCIDENTS

Abstract

The home is the place where everyone spends most of their free time and where one feels safe. Yet every year there are thousands of fatal domestic accident deaths worldwide, which are preventable.
It is interesting to know the nature of these accidents and the type of population affected by this phenomenon, so that they can be anticipated and avoided. To this end, we have reviewed various articles of literature concerning mainly France, but also, other parts of the world. We then compared them to similar events in Geneva between 2008 and 2017 based on the archives of the forensic institute of the University Medical Center in Geneva.
While factors that may favour fatal domestic accidents and the profile of those most affected have been identified, there is no exact linearity between these factors and the occurrence of an event.
This shows the pervasiveness of these accidents, which can affect any type of population. Despite this and the fact that accidents have been decreasing in recent years, the potential for good prevention and information work by physicians with their patients should not be overlooked in order to continue this trend.