Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Make your house safe
Children's accidents are a major health problem throughout the UK.
According to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents death amongst children is cuased the most by accidental injuries over the age of one. Every week three children die as aresult of an accident within the home.
Here are some safety tips for child proofing your house:
- Use covers on electrical sockets and locks on cabinets.
- Set the temperature of your hot water heater to 60 degrees to prevent possible scalds.
- Prevent poisoning by keeping household cleaners, chemicals and medicines completely out of reach and always store them in their original container.
- Secure large pieces of furniture that might tip over.
- Use stair gates and window guards.
- Install smoke alarms and fire extinguishers in the house.
- Also, invest in a fire blanket, especially for fat fryers.
- Buy flame retardant or flame resistant furniture.
- Remove furniture with sharp edges or apply some soft padding.Use nonskid backing on rugs and make sure carpets are secured.
- Remove breakables and sharp objects from low tables and shelves.
- Remove small toys and other choking hazards from around your child.
- Tie blind and curtain cords out of reach.
- Do not carry hot liquids near your child.
- Do not allow your child near stoves, heaters or other hot appliances.
- When cooking, use the back burners and turn pot handles inward.
- Never leave a hot drink balanced on the edge of a table or radiator.
- A hot drink remains potentially damaging up to 15 minutes until it has cooled down enough.
- To prevent drowning, empty all water from baths and keep the door to the bathroom closed.
- Never leave your child alone near any container of water or garden pond.
- Always keep your eye on young children near a swimming pool.
- A young child can drown in only a few inches of water.
- Keep a list of emergency, doctors, police and ambulance numbers near your phone.
- Also keep a map reference code available to inform the emergency services of your address, especially if you live in an isolated spot in the country.
- Do not allow your young children into an unsafe room.
- Go on a local first aid course and learn what to do in an emergency.
For children's picture books with DangerSpot safety stickers.
Monday, August 29, 2005
Burns and scalds amongst children
A recent lecture given at the Institute of Home Safety by a leading burns and plastic surgeon described how he came across a teacher in India who was trying to prevent accidents amongst children in two local villages. As an experiment he taught only one class of children from one village about accident prevention and did not give any advice to the second. The results of this experiment showed that there was no difference in the statistics of injuries and accidents sustained after this period of teaching. However, later when the children had grown up from the village where they had been taught about injury prevention there was a marked difference amongst the next generation of children who gained the benefit of their parents' education.
The point is that children must be taught these issues so that further generations might benefit.
In the event of a burn injury:
Figures released from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents show that approximately 600 people are badly scalded every year and 20 of those die. Most of these are children or elderly people in care homes. Always run cold water into a bath and then add hot. Remember a child's skin is far more sensitive than an adults and injuries from burns or scalds can be far more devastating. If in the event of a scalding immediately run cold water over the affected part of the body for at least 15 minutes. Then wrap the area in clingfilm followed by warm blankets until medical help arrives. Do not use ice cold water, which could increase the risk of hypothermia.
Dangers for children with pets
Pet Dangers
Figures recently issued in America claim that about 4.7 million people report dog bites per year. Each year, between 15 and 25 people die from dog bites and most of the victims are children. Children aged between 5 to 7, especially boys, are the most common victims.
In the UK 50% of homes include a pet of some description and 1600 children each year are admitted to hospital as a result of a dog bite.Certain dog breeds, such as Alsatians and Rottweilers, account for over fifty percent of fatal cases.
When approaching an owner's dog consider the following:
- Are there any other dogs in the vicinity that might cause a violent reaction from this dog?
- Are there any other distractions that might cause a problem?
- Are you sure the owner has control over the dog and would warn you of any violent tendencies?
- Is the dog listening and obedient to its owner?
- Does the dog look friendly, wagging its tail with a relaxed expression on its face?
- Never allow a child with food or sweets to approach any animal.Is the dog afraid or nervous?
- A dog might seem afraid if it holds its tail down, looks away and tries to hide, nervously licks its lips, growls or shakes. Even a yawn may express anxiety rather than boredom.
In addition, some further attention should be focused on other health hazards involving dogs. The estimated population in the UK is about six million. This produces approximately 1000 tons of faeces a day. Over 350,000 tons of dog excrement is deposited each year in children's playgrounds.This unpleasant material very often contains a parasitic roundworm, Toxocara Canis, which can cause blindness in humans. Over 100 people each year are known to catch a disease resulting from this problem, and many of these victims are children. This is a particularly hazardous threat when very young children are on their hands and knees. Young children often put their hands in their mouths after exploring everything with their fingers, and of course, do not wash them. Even some adults can be neglectful in this way.Another unpleasant organism which can be found in dog faeces and, in fact, all animals including humans, is Cryptosporidium Parvum. Cryptosporidiosis can be easily cured but can be very dangerous if left untreated.Cats are the most popular pets in this country, more so than dogs, but can still create problems, such as Toxoplasmosis. This condition is caused by a single-celled protozoa called Toxoplasma Gondii, again found in the faeces. As long as normal, healthy procedures are maintained with a sensible attitude towards hygiene this condition should never occur, but people should be aware of these dangers where children are concerned.As many of these diseases are to be found in soil very young children should be prevented from eating it or anything that may be in contact with soil. Children's hands should be washed before eating.
Even some pet reptiles, such as snakes, turtles, and lizards, can cause infections from salmonella, which is found in their faeces. This threat is becoming more serious as the interest in keeping these pets increases.Keep reptiles away from children under five years old, and teach older children to wash their hands after handling them.No child should be touching an animal whilst eating food, sweets, or ice creams.
All children should be closely supervised when in the presence of animals.
Child accident prevention book on farm safety.
DangerSpot BooksMore and more farm parks and farm shops are opening up to the public and inviting children to visit. This, of course, is a great way to teach children about farm production, the source of our foods, and animal welfare. However, it is a tragedy that child accidents do occur on farms and children should be made aware of the dangers.
The latest book in the DangerSpot series, helping to prevent accidents within the home and elsewhere, is just being published, "A Dangerous Day on the Farm". It tells the story of how Harey, the hare-brained rabbit, and his friends visit a farm. After many accidents and dangers Harey manages to set a barn alight and runs into a grain silo to hide. Fortunately, it is not full and he is dug out safely by the Fire Brigade.
The artwork from the book is also being used, free of charge, for the Health and Safety Executive leaflet on farm safety for the very young age group. Hopefully, this will go further to help prevent accidents on the farm.
Each story usually includes 4 major incidents which teach children about dangers. The last page of each title contains a serious advice sheet for parents. The books also include a page of six DangerSpot stickers, for parents and children to place around the home to identify dangers.
Another title in the series is being prepared for publication the November, "The Dangerous Road Game", for road safety.
32 pages, full colour, including sticker page with six stickers.
ISBN 0-9546565-5-5. £4.99
available from
DangerSpot Books Ltd.
Old Bank House,
High Street,
Laxfield,
Suffolk.
IP13 8DX
Tel:01986 798613
www.dangerspot.co.uk
