What you don’t know about home and family safety might surprise you.
Check out these sobering facts along with some basic safety practices you can do to help reduce the risk for unintentional injuries to your child:
- Biking: More children ages 5 to 14 are seen in emergency rooms for injuries related to biking than any other sport. Remember to talk with your child about bike safety and have your child wear a bike helmet that fits him or her properly.
- Batteries: Every three hours, one child is treated in an emergency room after swallowing a button battery. Be sure loose batteries are not accessible to your child. Keep batteries in a locked cabinet and out of your child’s reach. If you think your child has ingested a battery, go to the hospital immediately.
- Cars: Temperatures inside a car can rise 19 degrees in 10 minutes. Avoid leaving your child in the car by putting your cell phone, purse, briefcase or something you will need on the floor of the backseat. This will serve as a reminder to not leave your child alone in a parked car.
- Car seats: 3 out 4 of car seats are not used or installed correctly. Refer to the owner’s manual to find out if your car seat is installed correctly. Have your car seat inspected by a child passenger safety technician at our Sanford Children’s CHILD Services.
- Medicine poisoning: 86% of emergency room visits for medication poisoning are due to a child getting into adult medicine. Be sure to keep all medicine, including creams, powders, and vitamins locked and out your child’s reach.
- Smoke alarms: Working smoke alarms reduce the chances of dying in a fire by 50%. There should be a working smoke alarm on every level of your home. Change your smoke alarm battery when daylight saving time changes every year.
- TVs: Every three weeks a child dies from a TV tipping over on top of them. Be sure to mount flat-screen TVs to the wall or use brackets, braces or wall straps to secure your TV. If that is not possible, consider rearranging furniture to make sure it is safe.
For additional resources, visit the Sanford Children’s Safety Center to learn how to create a safe home environment for your family and to get your car seat checked by a child passenger safety technician.
To schedule a Safe Home = Safe Family consultation, to receive resources and a free safety kit to help you ensure your home is a safe place for children, call us at (605) 312-8390.
Learn more
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Posted In Children's, Community, Parenting
