11 Tips For Avoiding Kids' Accidents

11 Tips For Avoiding Kids' Accidents - And 3 in case of accident
Annually, one in 8 children reach the hospital following an accident, which occurred mainly inside the house. An infant can easy fall from the table where its dippers are changed or choke with food or small objects that got stuck in the throat. Toddlers often fall while climbing over all places or get burned or poisoned while tasting everything they grab. The main cause of death in the case of 3-7 years old age children are circulation accidents and drowning. School age children experience accidents in the street or while playing outside.

A toddler aged 1-3 cannot be taught to retain which are the dangers. That's why the main task belongs to the adults. The drawers and the oven door must be blocked introducing a stick through the handles.

The surfaces of the playgrounds must be covered by sand, so that in case the child falls from the swing, it will land on soft ground. Are there lakes or running waters close to your house? You should know that a 1-2 years old child can drawn even in a water of a few cm deep, because when toddlers fall face down they lose the notion of up-down and they won't be able to get up. A child aged 1-3 years old should never be left alone to play outside.

A pre-school age child understands only clear signs and can focus in just one thing at once. But street circulation means various abstract concepts and ambiguous messages, that's why a pre-school child should never be left alone to cross the street. Till the age of 12, children are not old enough for circulating alone on the bike in an agglomerated traffic.

Children must use a helmet when biking, riding, skating or playing on a toboggan. Head lesions can have severe effects and even can be deadly. The lack of helmet means, in case of bike accidents, head injuries in 60 % of the cases.

In many countries, safety chairs for cars in the case of the children is a must. The models for infants differ from those for toddlers.

Here are some tips for avoiding toddlers' accidents:
1. Drugs. Keep them in locked cupboards. Ask your guests to keep their drugs in safe places, out of the toddler's reach.

2. Home chemicals. They should be kept in locked boards. Put the products at their place even when leaving the room for some moments. Don't leave detergent remains in the dish washing machine.

3. Cooking machine. Turn always the handles of the pots towards the inner part of the machine. Tie the pot to a protection appliance, if existent. Endow the cooking machine with protection against overturn, for the case when the child can climb over the oven's door. If the child can be burned by touching the oven's door, a protection grill must be placed.

4. Dangerous personal objects. Knives, scissors and others must be locked or kept in places inaccessible to children. When using them, put them out of the edge of the table, where they can be reached by the children. Matches and plastic bags are dangerous for children. Plastic bags are less dangerous if they are tied in knot.

5. Stairs. Fix the high balustrades at about 70-75 cm (2.5 ft) at both edges of the stairs.

6. Windows and balcony doors. Endow them with locks, chains and other safety devices, so that the child cannot open them or slip through them when they are opened for airing.

7. Book shelves. They must be fixed to the walls, if the child likes climbing and hanging on the furniture pieces.

8. Power outlets and electric cables must be endowed with breeches, especially if not used. Cables for lamps, pressers and other objects must be fixed on the wall or furniture, so that the child won't pull the cable, being hit by the object. If not really necessary, remove these objects. Do not leave the presser on the ironing table, nor its cable hanging from the table.

9. Hot water. The temperature of the hot water should be regulated to 50o C, so that the child won't get scalded when opening the tap.

10. Toys. Discard toys having sharp edges or corners, which are small or demountable, as they can be swallowed, choking the child. The eyes and the ears of the teddy bears must be well fixed.

11. Sweets and snacks. Don't leave hard candies or peanuts at the reach of the toddlers, they can choke with them.

In case of accident:
1. Poisoning. If the child has ingested a toxic liquid, rinse well its mouth and give it to drink 1-2 cups of water or milk. Call the doctor. If a corrosive chemical reached the eyes, rinse them immediately with a lot of water for 10 minutes.

2. Burning. For minor burnings, apply cold water (but not too cold) on the lesion for about 20 minutes. If the lesion is larger than the child's hand or is on the face, joint, lower abdomen or genitalia, bring the child immediately to a hospital. More profound lesions must always be treated by a doctor.

3. Choking. If something has stopped on the trachea, remove it immediately through the Heimlich method. If you do not know it, call your doctor or participate to special classes teaching it.


Source: news.softpedia.com