Hanging deaths in children

Relatively little is known about death in children following hanging. This 12-year retrospective study in southeast Scotland revealed 12 such deaths a mong children <15 years of age, involving 10 boys and 2 girls. The rate of hanging deaths was 0.7 deaths/100,000 children/year and was equal to that f rom falls in children during this time period. The children who died follow ing hanging were aged between 4 and 14 years. All 12 children were in cardi ac arrest when found, and 11 were declared dead at the scene, demonstrating the limited potential to reduce the death rate through improved treatment. Scrutiny of the circumstances surrounding each death suggested that 6 of t he deaths were accidents and 6 were suicides. There appears to be some, alb eit limited, potential to prevent some hanging deaths in children through i ncreased parental supervision, education, and restriction of access to liga tures.