Articles Posted in Child Safety

School is gearing up, and our kids are strapping on their backpacks and heading back to class.

But first they’ve got to get to school safely, so over the next 30 days the emphasis will be on child pedestrian safety.

According to Parents Central, most of the fatal accidents including young pedestrians happen between noon and 8:00 p.m. at non-intersection locations.

Our Fort Myers child injury lawyers understand that there are more than 60 children who seek medical attention for injuries sustained while walking each and every day. Each year, there are more than 500 children who are killed in pedestrian accidents. Teens between the ages of 14 and 19 are most at risk. As a matter of fact, they account for about half of all pedestrian injuries sustained in the last five years.

Before your child heads back to that first day of school, it’s a good idea to review their route. Make sure you’ve planned the safest route possible. You want an area preferably with sidewalks, low traffic volume, low speed limits, good lighting, other people likely out walking and crosswalks and cross signals. Grab your child’s friends from the neighborhood and have a group practice. It’s always better to walk in a group as opposed to walking alone.

It’s also a good idea to review safe pedestrian tips with your child before sending them off for the new school year. Read, review and share the following safety tips with your child this autumn:

-Whenever it’s possible, cross the road at a street corner. You always want to abide by the traffic signals at these intersections. Most accidents and injuries occur mid-block or in another area other than an intersection.

-Before stepping onto the road to cross, you always want to look left and right. It’s important to keep looking and listening while crossing, too.

-While walking across the road, you want to do just that — walk don’t run.

-If there are no sidewalks available on your route, your best bet is to walk in the direction facing oncoming traffic. You’ll want to stay as far to the left as possible.

-Never walk while wearing headphones. You always want to be alert and aware of your surroundings.

-If you’ve got to use your phone, your best bet is to stop before doing so.

-Remember that drivers may be on their phones or engaged in other distracting activity. Before crossing the road, always make eye contact with them to ensure that they see you.

-Remind children that there is no horseplay on their way to the bus stop or to school. Horseplay is how accidents happen.

Make sure your children understand the risks that are associated with walking to school or to the bus stop. Cover these topics frequently throughout the school year to keep the idea fresh in their mind. An aware child is a safer one.
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Summer means baseball season for many players and their families. Whether you are a coach, parent or athlete, it is important to remain aware of the dangers of baseball and injury. Head injuries can be catastrophic and are commonly associated with sports, including baseball. When on the sidelines or on the field, you can also be preventative and take necessary steps to prevent serious injuries.

Avoiding hits to the face and head can prevent concussion and serious brain injury. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are a number of safety measures involving training and equipment that can prevent serious injury. Our Fort Meyers children’s injury attorneys are dedicated to helping victims of serious head injury, including traumatic brain injury.

Having proper equipment is critical to preventing head injury. All players should use protective equipment, even in the dugout. Helmets are critical to preventing head injury. An athlete should be measured and sized to be certain that the helmet fits properly. Head size can be measured by wrapping soft tape measure around the head, just above the eyebrows and ears. String can also be used and measured against a ruler, if no soft tape is available.

Coaches and parents should make sure that the athlete can see properly and that the helmet is not to big to cover the eyes. A player should feel comfortable in their helmet: ask him or her how it feels. Remember that batters and catchers have different helmets. The catcher’s helmet often comes in one- piece or in a two-piece style with a separate mask. Both styles should fit snugly and there should be no spaces between pads and the player’s head. Baseball caps should not be worn during games because they can change the fit of the helmet.

Whether on the sidelines or on the field, athletes should always keep their eyes on the ball. Young players may be vulnerable to distraction. Keep your youngsters engaged and prepared to catch or defend against flying balls on the field or on the sideline.

If you suspect that a player has suffered a brain injury or concussion, you should never take the incident lightly. Sometimes the severity of an injury is not known for hours or even days after the blow. Internal bleeding can cause serious brain damage, and in some cases, result in death. After a player has been struck by a ball, he or she should be removed from the play and examined by a licensed healthcare provider. No one on the sidelines should be a final judge of the seriousness of the injury. Parents of the player should also be informed about the possibility of a concussion.

Numerous blows to the head can cause long-term brain damage. Many health care professionals recommend sitting out several games, or even the season after a concussion. After a head injury, no player should return to the game. An athlete should return only after examined by a qualified medical provider.

Remember that head injuries can cause lasting and permanent brain injury. The best way to prevent a serious injury, is to be prepared before sports season begins.
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You might think that your child is safe in a play yard.

You know, one of those child play areas that are raised off the ground, with a mattress and some fabric or mesh walls. Well, if your play yard isn’t new, you might be inadvertently putting your child at risk.

Officials with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recently tightened safety standards on these play yards to help better protect our young ones. The new regulations are all part of the Danny Keysar Child Product Safety Notification Act (Danny’s Law). Danny was a Chicago child who was killed in a play yard after it collapsed on him and he suffocated.

Our Lehigh Acres injury attorneys understand that parents and guardians buy children’s products expecting them to be safe. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. Many times, these products come with some serious design defects that could injure or even kill a small child.

New Safety Standards for Child’s Play Yards:

-Side rails much not create a sharp-V edge when they’re folded. This is going to help to reduce the risks of strangulation.

-The corner brackets on these devices need to prevent sharp-edged cracks. This is going to help to reduce the risks of these yards collapsing.

-Mattress attachments are now required to be sturdier. This is to help keep children from getting wedged underneath or on the side.

If you use a play yard, keep it bare when you put your baby in it. Each year, CPSC receives reports of infant suffocation deaths. Some key causes of these deaths are the placement of pillows and thick quilts in a baby’s sleeping space and/or overcrowding in the space. Here’s more information on how to put your baby to sleep safely.

In addition to making sure you’ve got a safe play yard for your child, there are a few other things you should know. There are some safety tips that you can use to make sure your child sleeps safely. This is a serious matter, too. Officials with the CPSC estimate that about 700 children die each and every year because of cushions and pillows in their sleep area.

You want to keep this area clear of clutter. This means no pillows, no cushions and no thick blankets. Don’t even think about stuffed toys or animals. Those are dangerous, too.

An important tip when putting your child to bed is to lay them on their back. This is a move that can help to prevent suffocation. Make sure the mattress fits tightly to the surface of the crib or play yard. You don’t want it wiggling around loosely because that creates serious risks. The only place your child belongs while in a crib is on top of the mattress.
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Your child is probably excited and geared up to go for Halloween’s trick-or-treating adventures.

What they might not be thinking about are the risks that accompany their costume. NCB2 is here with some beneficial safety tips to help to make sure that your child remains safe.

Our Fort Myers injury lawyers also want to talk about the risks for pedestrian accidents on All Hallow’s Eve. This is the most dangerous night out of the entire year for your child to be along our roadways. It’s important that you equip them with safe walking habits and do your job as a parent to keep them safe!

Thirteen Lucky Tips for Halloween Safety:

1.) Your best bet is to go with flame-resistant costumes. There are going to be candles and jack-o-lanterns lining most neighborhoods in the area. If you have jack-o-lanterns of your own, consider using artificial light. Never leave any kind of candle unattended.

2.) Try to glow in the dark. Wear bright colors and reflective materials to make your young one more remains visible to passing drivers. You can use the reflective materials as props on their costume and you can adhere them to their trick-or-treating candy bag!

3.) Ditch the masks. Your best bet to disguise your face is to use face paint. This way your view won’t be obstructed by a bulky piece of plastic strapped to your face. Dangers need to be seen, not hidden by a mask.

4.) Test out your makeup before use to make sure there will be no allergic reactions ruining Halloween night.

5.) Look at the ingredients in the makeup you’re using. Make sure they’re FDA approved.

6.) Be careful when using contact lenses. Don’t wear them unless they come from a professional. Talk with your eye doctor first.

7.) Make sure candy isn’t consumed until it has been seen by an adult. Throw out and items that appear to have been tampered with or are homemade.

8.) Feed your little monsters and gremlins before heading out. This will help them to avoid snacking on candy before it has a chance to be inspected.

9.) Never take any candy that looks questionable.

10.) Don’t give small, hard candy to children. Never give them anything that could serve as a choking hazard.

11.) Make sure that you trick-or-treat in neighborhoods that are well-lit and that are familiar.

12.) Stay sober behind the wheel. A lot of Halloween parties will be going on during the next few days. Stay out of jail and out of a potentially fatal car accident by practicing your safest driving habits.

13.) Make sure that you review safe pedestrian walking habits with your child before hitting the town (or the neighborhood).
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The Lee County Injury Prevention Coalition is urging Southwest Florida residents to stay safe in the water as we head into the fall and winter tourism seasons.

Our Cape Coral injury attorneys wrote recently about the risks of swimming pool accidents. But boaters, too, are at risk and beachgoers may be lulled into a false sense of security by the calm, shallow waters of the Gulf Coast.

And the risks don’t diminish with the passing of Labor Day. While they may be putting away the life vests and water wings in the Midwest, the threat in South Florida is year around. In fact, as the tourism season gets underway and snow birds return to the Sunshine State, we will likely see an increasing number of serious and fatal accidents on the water.

Health and safety experts say we are seeing an increasing number of drowning and near-drowning accidents in Southwest Florida. Already, three young lives have been lost and 17 near-drownings have been reported. The consequences of a near-drowning can be very serious and may include brain damage or other permanent impairment.

Last year, the Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida reported 33 near drownings and one death. While adults are obviously at risk too, a disproportionate number of these cases involve children. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports drowning is the leading cause of death for children under the age of 5.

These deaths are almost always preventable.

“Just one child dying or suffering lifelong impairment from drowning is one too many,” Dr. Alex Daneshmand, a critical care pediatrician with The Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida. “Summer is the time of year when the number of drownings escalates as everyone hits the water to escape the heat and children are out of school. Considering drownings are 100% preventable, we have to step up our efforts to protect our children.”

The Lee County Injury Prevention Coalition is comprised of more than 100 private and personal organizations focused on reducing injury to the area’s visitors and residents. Members include health and safety agencies, educators, fire and rescue agencies, law enforcement, schools and hospitals.

“In the state of Florida, we lose the equivalent of three classrooms of preschoolers to drowning each year,” said Michele King, Director of the Child Advocacy Program at The Children’s Hospital. “We must keep our children safe with layers of protection and constant adult supervision when they are in or near water.”

The Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida and The Kohl’s Center for Safety and Safe Kids Lee/Collier Coalition offer the following safety tips.

-Never leave a child unattended near a swimming pool.

-Make sure your pool or spa is equipped with anti-entrapment drain covers and safety release systems.

-Don’t leave toys or other temptations near a pool.

-Learn water rescue skills, including CPR.

-Make sure your pool or spa is protected with the appropriate door alarms, locks and enclosures.

-Keep a phone near the swimming pool.

-Teach children to swim and enroll them in swimming safety courses whenever possible.
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Safe Kids Worldwide and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently joined forces to help to keep kids out of hot cars.

The campaign, “Where’s baby? Look before you lock.,” focuses on raising awareness in parents, guardians and childcare providers about the risks associated with leaving kids in the car, no matter how “short” of a time it may be. Heatstroke is the number one cause of non-collision, vehicle-related fatalities for kids under the age of 14-years-old.

In just 2011, there were nearly 35 of these accident fatalities reported across the U.S.
Texas and Florida are the most dangerous states.

“Parents and caregivers are the first line of defense against heatstroke deaths and injuries, but everyone in the community has a role to play in keeping our children safe,” said USDOT Secretary Ray LaHood.

Our Naples child injury attorneys understand that many of these fatalities are actually accidents. Far too often, parents, guardians and caregivers exit their vehicle and just forget about the kid in the back seat. You might be thinking that this is one of the worst things you’ve ever heard, but the truth of the matter is that is happens to the most loving and caring adults. Campaigns like this one are extremely important in preserving the safety of our helpless passengers. This is especially important in warmer areas of the country, like the state of Florida. It only takes temps in the 80s for a car to reach deadly temps. Our young passengers are the most at risk too, as their bodies cannot handle temps like our adult bodies.

Since 1998, there have been at least 530 children killed in these kinds of accidents, from vehicular heatstroke. A majority of these accidents happened to kids who were under the age of 4.

While we know that more than 30 kids were killed in these accidents in 2010, there’s no way of telling how many were seriously injured as many incidents are never reported. Some of the injuries that can be sustained from being left in a hot vehicle include a loss of hearing, blindness and permanent brain injury.

These accidents can also happen after a child gets into a vehicle without the parent or guardian’s knowledge. For this reason, it’s important to teach children that cars are not play areas. These accidents are also a common result of when a driver who doesn’t usually transport children forgets to check the car before exiting. Many times, these children are infants who are sleeping in the back seat in a rear-facing car seat.

Safety Tips to Prevent These Accidents:

-Never leave your child in the car. You shouldn’t even do this if you’re only “running” in. Windows down and the air conditioner on are ineffective, too. Don’t even try it.

-Create the habit of looking in the back seat before you get out of the car, lock up and walk away.

-Inform your childcare provider or daycare center to get in touch with you in your child doesn’t show up as they’re expected.

-Keep something important in the back seat so you’re forced to look back before exiting.

-Teach kids that a vehicle is not a play area and keep your car keys out of a child’s reach.
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