Child Safety Strategies

11/21/2018

Christmas: A most unsafe time of the Year

Families have all kinds of traditions during Christmas. One of my favorites was watching Scrooged. Something that is probably not one of your holiday traditions is being safe. So here are some friendly reminders to consider when planning for the arrival of Jolly Saint Nick.

-Holiday plants, including holly, mistletoe, evergreens and poinsettias can be poisonous.
-Place ornaments and tinsel high on the tree out of a child’s reach. These can be choking hazards.
-Check extension cords for fraying or cracks.
-If you use candles make it nightly tradition to blow them out with the kids. This is fun teachable moment.
-Maintain a connection to recalled toys that you give or receive at www.recalls.gov.

Scrooged movie clips: http://j.mp/1CKXnDG BUY THE MOVIE: http://amzn.to/voc2Dm Don't miss the HOTTEST NEW TRAILERS: http://bit.ly/1u2y6pr CLIP DESCRIPTION: F...

11/13/2018

Seriously consider how stupid you are.

11/09/2018

Mothers Voice Saves Lives

A recent study solidified the growing world of information that children do not wake up and respond to the “BEEP BEEP BEEP” of smoke detectors like they do to the voice of their mother. The results of the study demonstrated that children between the ages 5-12 are three times more likely to wake up with a voice annunciation rather than a beep or tone found in most homes. The voice activated smoke alarms using the mothers voice caused the child to wake up on average 88% of the time. Compared the the result of traditional tone alarm which only got a response to escape 53% of the time.

To me these numbers are staggering. It’s another example of why research cannot stop. Just when an industry believes it has reached the pinnacle of safety in the home and then we find this information that upends our line of thought. The Center for Injury and Research Policy also discovered another and possibly more important factor. A tone based smoke detector prompted a child to get up and out of bed after almost 5 minutes while the voice alarm received a response to leave on average between 18-28 seconds. Considering that a fire can double its size every 30 seconds when it has access to fuel and oxygen this is life and death change.

Voice programmed smoke detectors clearly have an advantage.

11/07/2018

Bike Safety
An average of 600 children between the ages of 5-17 are sent to emergency rooms each day for bicycle related injuries.
The study by The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital revealed that the overall rate of injury is down but that bicycle rides continue to be major cause of injury.
It is a proven fact that helmets reduce the traumatic brain injuries, so don't be a dummy and make sure your children wear a helmet.
There are so many factors that go into assessing the safety of a bike ride for your child and at some point you need to cut the umbilical cord and let them ride alone. I encourage parents to be honest to your child about the possibilities of not following basic safety practices. Show them articles of other kids who are in the news for injuries.

Here are some great tips by Nationwide Children's Hospital.

- Know a child’s limits. Tell your child where he or she can ride
-Always wear a helmet. Everyone on a bike of any type needs to wear a helmet on every ride. For tips on choosing and fitting a helmet, click here.
-Ride with traffic. Stay to the right. Do not swerve into traffic.
-Follow all traffic signs. Stop at red lights and stop signs.
Use hand signals to let car drivers know what you plan to do.
-Walk the bicycle across busy streets and intersections. Look left, right, and left again before crossing.
-Ride only if it is sunny and dry. Riding at dusk, when it is dark or when it is raining can be dangerous.
-Children younger than 1 year of age should not be passengers on bicycles. Their neck muscles may not be strong enough to control head movement during a sudden stop, especially with the added weight of a helmet.
-Children younger than 10 years should ride on a sidewalk or bicycle path instead of the street. Most young children are unable to make safe choices in traffic situations.
-Make sure the seat and handlebars of the bicycle fit your child.

As Usual- do your homework. Inspect your child's helmet and bike. Loosely fitting chains are harbinger of of accidents and entanglements. Don't use hand me down helmets. Be aware and put you cell phone away.

11/06/2018

Its been a while. Lots going on but i saw this story today and was totally amazed how sometimes people get lucky. Do not depend on luck for your child's safety.
Imagine you wake up while your camping and find your toddlers sleeping bag empty...

The 18-month-old boy had escaped from his parents' tent by undoing the zipper and ended up in the water.

05/14/2018

Been very delayed in any posts. But heard a great podcast on drowning and it reminded me how vigilant you have to be in protecting children from the hazards of drowning. Drowning, secondary drowning, dry drowning...so many terms to learn. A couple of quick tips, CPR is important if a child is unresponsive and not breathing. If they are breathing and not responsive, lay them on their side...so much more to learn.

Many scenarios where toddlers and young children succumb to drowning and they involve signs that are not traditionally associated with drowning. For example if someone is drowning don't expect to see flailing arms and screaming for help, likely it will be silent and you won't have a warning.

Podcast:

Hundreds of thousands of people drown around the world every year, and yet it can be easily prevented and is widely misunderstood – like how you can officially drown but live to tell the tale, or how you can drown but die days later.

11/09/2017

I read an article today that said people who ride in the backseat of the car almost never buckle up. The statistics stated you are 8 more times likely to die if you riding in back. Buckle up, it's a good idea. Interesting.

06/30/2017

Check out this fantastic set of resources GOOGLE has set up to help provide a safer internet for kids and better over site for parents. https://www.google.com/safetycenter/families/start/

As a parent or guardian, you know what feels right for your family and how your kids learn best. To help your family navigate through new technologies, gadgets, and services in an ever-changing online world, it helps to get practical advice. That’s why we continuously talk to safety experts, parents...

06/26/2017

I am going to try to use my twitter powers for good...

06/23/2017

A story that demonstrates a real awareness. What a hero.

05/10/2017

Summer Safety: Clean House

Subtitle: Sucker Punch Hazards Before They Punch You.

Take a minute today and read the label on the chemicals under your sink. I bet you have some bad stuff in there. There is a never ending parade of chemicals that we use that can cause symptoms from mild irritation to serious acute pains. The chemical industry offers a wide variety of products to clean and disinfect your environment. So here are some simple questions to ask yourself.

First ask yourself what are you scared of? Are you using antimicrobial and antibacterial chemicals because you have a weak immune system? Are you in the habit of working with bi-hazardous body fluids in your kitchen? If you are doing the run of the mill cleaning in your house then you can probably stay away from those sorts of heavy chemicals for cleaning.

Next determine the kinds of chemicals you have- Landry detergent, air fresheners, pet and flea powder, collars or spray, insecticides, dishwashing agents. Window cleaner, drain cleaners, Rug and carpet cleaner. These generic names all have associated harmful chemicals: Cationic or anionic solutions, Phenol, Ammonia, Hydrochloric acid, chlorine, naphthalene, P-Dichlorobenzene, Butopyronoxyl.

Wouldn’t we think twice if we were asked to pass the Napthalene Carpet Cleaner. You know the stuff that gets the carpet clean and may cause liver damage and forms cataracts. Maybe we should think twice more often. Don’t fooled by “green” products either. They too have hazardous chemicals in them.
Here is your homework- try to make a homemade cleaner with baking soda, vinegar, lemon juice. There are dozens of recipes using products that are not harmful to you, your children, your pets or the environment. In addition- choose one chemical and search its name in google and the term “SDS” which mean Safety Data Sheet. So an example would be “Windex SDS.” Once you read the Safety Data Sheet for the product you are using you may consider never using it again.

Life is full of hazards so why not remove and reduce those around us that we willingly bring in. Children don’t know the different between spray bottle of Windex or a Spray bottle of water.

If your child does ingest a dangerous chemical know the number to call…the nationwide poison control center phone number, 1-800-222-1222.
Don’t keep it if you don’t need it. Have a great day.
Kovacs

Liquid laundry packets can be mistaken for candy or a teething toy, leading to thousands of emergency calls to poison control centers