Would you know what to do if your child had an accident while at home? A little knowledge can go a long way and might even save your child's life.
The Number of Child Accidents in the Home Each Year
If you have children in the home, safety and the prevention of accidents is always a major concern. According to RoSPA (The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents) almost 4,000 people die and 2.7 million people go to the Accident and Emergency departments needing treatment from accidents sustained at home each year. It's a frightening thought but someone somewhere in the U.K has an accident or is injured in the home every one and a half minutes (at least one while you're reading this!)
There are, however, ways to prevent these accidents occurring and the old adage, "Knowledge is power", definitely rings true.
Burn Related Accidents
Research shows that almost a third of all child related accidents are from burns and scalds where many are either killed or permanently disfigured but before you start to panic - STOP! - as I said before, knowledge is power.
A few simple steps to safety can prevent these accidents from happening. It may be obvious but try to keep children away from any hot surfaces. A study of local burns units revealed that this simple precaution was sometimes overlooked.
Another obvious but essential tip is to never leave anything hot unattended - an iron can easily tip over and a mug of hot coffee can still burn up to fifteen minutes after it has been poured.
Always test the bath water before placing your child in it. You may think it's an old wives' tale but the tip of your elbow really is a good thermostat!
Of course, the kitchen is a room bristling with danger from burns but just one tip is to keep saucepan handles turned in and to try to use the back rings of the cooker whenever possible making it harder for little fingers to reach up and pull boiling water all over themselves.
Choking Related Accidents
Other child accidents include falls, cuts and choking. The last of which I have some personal experience. My nephew, aged about two, was happily eating some cherry tomatoes one Summer's afternoon in the garden when my sister suddenly heard a strained, strangulated cough. She ran outside to see her little boy lying on the floor and turning blue as he vainly struggled to take in air. She didn't know what to do but as valuable seconds ticked by, out of necessity, she thrust her hand down his throat and managed to dislodge a small piece of tomato, thereby clearing the airway. We were lucky. The only after-effects were a bruised jaw for my nephew. However, and again I'm stressing this because it is true, knowledge is power, if my sister had known a little first aid and had performed the Heimlich manoeuvre on him that cherry tomato would have come out a lot easier and sooner.
Prevent Accidents with Knowledge
So, quite honestly, the point I'm trying to make is a little knowledge about prevention can go a long way and, you never know, one day it might just save the life of somebody you know.
If you want know more about accident prevention you can go to the RoSPA website.
