No matter where you’re from, accidents happen. But in some states, accidents happen more frequently than in others. Depending on your area, certain holidays see a surge in ER visitations, and Halloween is one of the worst offenders. Halloween ranks among the five worst holidays for children’s emergency room visits, with head injuries and car accidents—among other issues—causing safety concerns.
With Halloween just around the corner, we’ve compiled a report in hopes of shedding some light on the states with the highest and lowest ER visits per capita.
Methodology
Based on collected data from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, we looked at the number of emergency room visits per 1,000 people from 2012 to 2016. In the results, we saw that hospital visits tend to correlate to geographical location. Often, the higher the level of overall poverty and crime, the more likely a specific region will have a higher percentage of ER visits per capita.
States with the most ER visits per capita
Within the United States, Washington, DC, ranks number one for the highest percentage of visits to the ER. Looking at the number of visitations for every 1,000 residents between 2012 and 2016, this study shows that DC peaked at 3,729. This may, in part, be due to the increase in crime around the area.
Following in pursuit of DC, the states with the most recorded ER visits per capita over five years of data are North Dakota, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana, Ohio, Maine, Mississippi, and West Virginia.