Summer Safety
Monday, May 17, 2010
Summer is almost here and that means many children will be biking, swimming, jumping on a trampoline and skateboarding during school vacation. Unfortunately, that also means a dramatic increase in injuries, making emergency rooms busier than they already are.
The leading cause of injuries in the summer months include drowning, bike accidents and falls. Most people are aware of injuries caused on bikes and in pools, but even that fun trampoline in the backyard sends thousands of children to the emergency room each summer.
Summer safety is a big priority and should not be overlooked. Doing things as simple as making sure your child has a properly fitted helmet that is always worn when biking or skateboarding; allowing only one person on a trampoline at a time and installing proper barriers around swimming pools and hot tubs can make a big difference in the safety of a child. Of course, nothing replaces close, adult supervision.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTMichael J. Mello, MD, MPH, Director of the Injury Prevention Center at Rhode Island Hospital offers some sage advice about summer safety, "In most pool drownings the child was only out sight for a few minutes by their caregiver. Pools always have the risk of a serious injury, and thus require constant supervision of a child when near the pool, as well as barriers (four sided pool fences, alarms, locked gates) to prevent a child from getting to the pool when they are not meant to be there."
With more children out on their bikes during the good weather, Dr. Mello stresses the importance of helmets, "We know that head trauma accounts for many of the serious bicycle-related injuries, but they can be minimized or completely prevented by simply wearing a helmet. Brain injuries can be catastrophic and, at the very least, debilitating. A helmet offers such great protection against this risk of terrible injury."
The top injuries treated at Hasbro Children's Hospital from bicycle accidents aside from head trauma are laceration, abrasions and fractures to extremities. Bicycle helmets have been shown to decrease the risk of head injury by as much as 85 percent and the risk of brain injury by as much as 88 percent.
When it comes to swimming, aside from the obvious call to 911, the ED doctors at Hasbro Children's Hospital advise that the first thing that should be done upon pulling a child from a pool is to check to see if the child is breathing and has a pulse. If not, start CPR. Keep this wet, cold child warm with a blanket over them. Do not move neck/spine, in case they were injured during fall into the pool.
If you have not taken a CPR course, it's the perfect time to start. There are a variety of first aid and CPR courses offered by the American Red Cross right here in Rhode Island. Call the local chapter of the American Red Cross at 401-831-7700 or find more info on their website here.
