A personal injury incident in Ohio often happens without warning, and through a number of mechanisms that are common, unusual and even outlandish. Injuries belong to several categories, including intentional and unintentional injuries, with intentional injuries frequently resulting from some form of violence. Common causes of injuries in Ohio include vehicle accidents, drug overdoses, suicides, trips and falls and animal bites.
One surprising area of high rate of deaths in Ohio is drug overdoses. The Ohio Department of Health 2018 Drug Overdose Report provides a wealth of information on drug deaths. That year, though it represented a decrease from 2017, 3,764 Ohio residents died from an unintentional drug overdose. Nearly three quarters of those deaths resulted from illegal drug use, often with fentanyl and some combination of other street drugs. The age cohort mostly likely affected by drug deaths were those aged 35-44 year old, followed by those aged 25-34. Males experienced a higher death rate caused by drug overdoses than females in nearly all age groups.
Another leading area of deaths and injuries for Ohioans is found in the category of trips and falls by adults 65-years and older. A Special Emphasis Report on this topic by the Ohio Department of Health found the following numbers related to trips and falls for older adults in 2014: 1160 deaths, 19,461 hospitalizations and 81,275 emergency room visits. A high percentage of deaths from trips and falls occurred in the home, but 20% occurred in a nursing facility. Not surprisingly, those aged 85 and older had the highest rate of deaths caused by trips and falls.