Summertime safety: Preventive steps to avoid accidents
The fun and relaxing character of summer can be deceptive when it comes to child safety.
Kids are exposed to more danger and higher risk simply because they tend to be more active and spend more time outdoors.The good news is the majority of accidents, such as motor vehicle or bicycle collisions, drowning and falls, can be avoided by taking a few simple preventive steps.
Warm weather usually sends children to the nearest swimming pool. Take the time to teach them how to be safe when swimming, and help avoid drowning, nationally the second leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among children ages 1 to 14.
Teaching kids safe pool use:
• Always supervise children swimming or near water—never leave them
alone—even for a moment!
• Teach children to never swim
alone—even when they are
older.
• Learn CPR for adults and for children.
• Make sure children take swimming lessons when they are ready—usually beginning at age 4.
• Never let kids dive into water less than nine feet deep.
•Realize that children can get into trouble in the water even if they know how to swim or are wearing a life jacket.
• Empty & turn over wading pools as soon as they are empty. If you own your own pool: • Have a fence that separates the pool from the house and yard. • Keep a phone with all emergency numbers near the pool • Use a gate or pool alarm. • Keep rescue equipment near the pool.
For oceans, lakes
and rivers: • Make sure children swim only in areas designated and marked for swimming. • Never allow them to dive into the ocean or into lakes and rivers; it's impossible to know how deep the water is. • Make sure everyone wears a Coast Guard approved Personal Flotation Device (PFD or Life Jacket) near or in the water and on boats. • Water wings ("swimmies") and inner tubes are NOT substitutes for life jackets. • Never allow children to drive jet skis.
Bicycle safety: Children also spend time on their bikes, scooters and skateboards during the summer. Bicycles are associated with more childhood injuries than any other consumer product except the automobile. Head injuries are the leading cause of death and disability in bicycle crashes. Wearing an approved bicycle helmet can reduce the risk of head injury by at least 85%, but only 15-25% of children that ride wear helmets. . Help protect your child by:
Teaching the rules
of the road: • Bikes, scooters, skateboards and inline skates are vehicles—not toys. • When on the road, ride with the traffic and as far to the right as possible. • Learn and use appropriate hand signals. • Respect all traffic signals. • Stop and look left, right, and then left again, before crossing an intersection. • Don't ride when it's dark. • Don't negotiate! If you don't wear a helmet—you don't ride it! Teaching kids to use proper gear: • Bikes - Use a helmet. • Scooters - Use helmet, knee pads and elbow pads. • Skateboards & Inline Skates - Use helmet, knee pads, elbow pads and wrist guards.
This information was compiled by the University of Maryland Medical Center.
