Safety First For Children This Summer!

With summer time fast approaching child safety should be taken seriously to prevent injuries to childern.

Here are some facts about child injuries that could easily be prevented:

• Each year, an average of 2,096 children ages 14 and under die as a result of a home injury. 
• In 2004, approximately 2,300 children ages 14 and under died from unintentional injuries that occurred in the home. Nearly 80 percent of these deaths were among children ages 4 and under.

Some prevention strategies:

• Practice fire drills in the home to make sure children know when and how to quickly exit the home in case of fire.
• Installation of a four-sided fence around home swimming pools has proven to be the only intervention effective in preventing drowning of young children. The fencing should include a self-closing and self-latching gate.
• Window guards installed in homes have shown to be effective in preventing falls. New York City passed a regulation along with a window guard distribution program that resulted in a 35 percent reduction in window-related deaths and a 50 percent reduction in window-related falls.
• Protective surfaces (rather than cement or asphalt) beneath playground equipment has shown to prevent the number of fall-related injuries as well as reducing the severity of injury.
• Make sure all household cleaners are secured and out of a child's reach.

Source: http://www.safekids.org/our-work/research/fact-sheets/home-safety-fact-sheet.html