Today is the start of Child safety week, which is an annual campain run by the Child Accident Prevention Trust (CAPT), to raise awareness of childhood accidents and their prevention.
In light of this, I've decided to put together a blog focusing on childhood safety advice.
It’s all about raising awareness of common childhood accidents and injuries and how to prevent these. It is important that parents and carers are aware of best ways to prevent incidents, but also to educate their children on how to keep themselves safe.
Here are some safety tips to prevent common accidents occurring amongst children:
Blind cord safety
Window blind cords can lead to fatal consequences, particularly to babies and younger children. Children can easily strangle themselves on these cords. Parents and carers need to be aware of these risks, to prevent these injuries from happening.
Fitting a hook out of the reach of children and making sure the blind cords are tied away safely after being used, will prevent accidents from happening. Bear in mind that children can climb on furniture and jump to get hold of things. Put yourself in their shoes and make sure they’ll never get hold of those cords.
A tragic incident, but an important awareness story. Read the article here
Trampoline safety
Trampolining is a great exercise for children. But it is also important we use it safely to prevent any accidents. Particularly during lockdown, it has been reported that there has been an increase in A&E visits due to trampoline injuries.
Make sure trampolines have safety nets, to prevent falls off the trampoline
Be mindful of younger children, recommended age is 6 years and above
Never let children go underneath the trampoline
Never let children store any largy items underneath the trampoline
Make sure children take turns when jumping, to prevent head injuries
Burns and scalds
Babies and small children’s skin is extremely sensitive and burns easily. You baby or toddler may secretly be exploring in the kitchen or your older child may want to spend more time with your in the kitchen and explore cooking. In all situations it is important that you prevent injuries from happening. Creating a safe space for your baby and child at home is what matters the most.
Teach your children never to touch items that can get hot, such as toasters, kettles, microwaves, ovens, irons, straighteners.
Inform children not to touch hair straighteners and irons, even when switched off. These devices can burn even after more than 15 minutes from being turned off. Always keep these out of the reach of children.
Always push away kettles and other electrical devices
Always keep pan and pot handles away and out of reach, so that children can’t pull them down
Place hot drinks out of reach and never drink a hot drink while holding your baby or child. Hot drinks injuries are one of the most common burn injuries in children. Around 30 babies and toddlers go to the hospital with a hot drink burn injury every day. A hot drink is hot enough to burn a child even after 15 minutes from making it.
You can ready more about hot drinks here
Be aware that a garden hose exposed to direct sunlight may carry hot water that can cause burns in children. Inform older children about this and prevent the younger ones from turning on the hose by themselves.
When barbequing, always supervise children. Advice them not to walk around the BBQ barefoot, as there may be hot coals lying on the ground. BBQs can stay hot for hours, so be careful and make sure children are supervised even after you have finished using it.
Keep button batteries out of reach of babies and younger children. Not only are they a choking hazard due to their round shape, but they can be fatal as they can cause burns and internal bleeding.
Read about how to treat burns here:
Read about how to treat sunburns here:
Poisoning
Children come in contact with harmful substances every day by accident. Around 58 children accidentally get poisoned every day in the UK. This could be from bleach, washing tablets, medicines or other common household products. Dangerous items often carry a 'keep out of reach of children' label. Children can intake harmful substances from variety of sources, such as: batteries, alcohol, medication and cleaning material.
Make sure that you always keep your medicines away, even the herbal kind. Children can easily find them even if they are kept in drawers, cupboards and bags. Have a habit of locking medication away. Make sure the medication stored in the fridge, is also out of reach of children.
Try to keep medication in their original packaging, as they may look more like sweets or appear less harmful if they are kept in a ‘normal’ container. Keeping them in their original containers, also makes it more difficult for children to open.
Never keep expired medication or medication you no longer use in your home, dispose of them safely at your local pharmacy.
Bear in mind that products such as alcohol, cigarettes, perfume, cosmetic products, mouthwash, paint and some plants can be poisonous to babies and children.
Keep cleaning products out of children’s site, this includes cleaning material that comes in any format such as tablets, gels and liquids. Some cleaning products have safety lids, but the bottles may break and children can still open them as they are not really child proof. Particularly when you pour cleaning products in other containers such as drinking bottles, make sure these are out of reach as children may think they contain drinks. The safest option is to have them locked away.
Read more about swallowing harmful substances and button batteries here:
For more resources by Child Accident Prevention Trust - read here
You can also find more first aid & accident prevention resources here:
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Written by Fi Ramos, Public Health Nurse & First Aid Instructor at Act2care.
Information on this site is evidence based and provided to create awareness and advice only. If you are worried about a condition, seek medical advice.
Theoretical first aid tips are beneficial, however practical demonstrations and exercises are necessary for gaining high standard of first aid knowledge and skills.
If you are interested in gaining first aid skills, contact Fi to find our more about our paediatric first aid classes at info@act2care.co.uk
Comments