During Childhood Injury Prevention Week, Learn the Common Injuries from Safe Haven
There was no magic parent wisdom that dropped down on us the moment you had your first child. As parents, we have to keep learning and accept that it’s okay to not know everything about raising children. Even supermoms and superdads make mistakes. We can, however, learn as we go. On National Childhood Injury Prevention Week, Safe Haven aims to help raise awareness of preventable childhood injuries.
From the moment our children are born, we realized how dangerous the outside world is to them. Suddenly, we’re keeping small objects away from babies, cradling their heads, keeping the four year-old away from the stove, keeping a 24/7 eye on the pool and worrying about our teens on Friday nights. In fact, more than 3 million children are hospitalized in America each year. Although you can’t prepare for everything, follow these tips to deter some of the most common preventable injuries.
Drowning
According to the WHO, drowning is one of the most common causes of accidental death among children. Kids should always use life jackets. Keep a fence around swimming pools to prevent accidental falls. Teach children how to swim at a young age and have them learn CPR for additional safety preparedness.
Burns
Globally, 260 children die from burns every day, according to the WHO. Always make sure your smoke alarms are up-to-date. Keep children away from stoves when cooking and keep hot items like curling irons out of reach. Test your children’s food before they eat it and use hot-water temperature regulators.
Falls
Falls are the reason for half of all childhood visits to the emergency room. Use window guards and keep children out of unsafe rooms with safety gates and locked doors. The playground is a common place for this type of injury, so make sure someone is supervising and that the surfaces under the equipment are safe and soft.
Poisoning
Prevent your child from an accidental poisoning by safely storing toxic agents, using child-resistant packaging of medication and throw away the silica gel packets found in new clothes and purses.
Practice these safety tips with your children and and feel free to learn more on our Facebook page! If you’d like to set up a consultation for a home monitoring system, we encourage you to visit our website.