What you need to know about Indoor Safety
Childhood injuries and deaths in the home number around two and a half million a year. Electricity, stoves, stairs, knives, sharp corners are hazardous and dangerous. Some families store guns. Firearms are the leading cause of death in children. Almost all accidents in the home are preventable.
How can I keep my child safe?
The most common cause of accidents is an unattended hot or sharp object that is in sight and reach. The best prevention is to childproof your home. Safety devices are readily available and most are easy to install by an adult without special tools. They should be easy for an adult to use, but difficult for a child. However, no safety device is childproof. Follow the installation instructions carefully. Teach older children and other caregivers how to use them.
Your best safety tactic is extreme caution. Get down on your hands and knees for a child-eyed view of each room in your home.
Check all the rooms in your home for sharp, heated, and electrical items including the bedroom, living room and den. Make sure they are out of reach.
Cushion sharp corners on furniture. Plastic furniture corners help prevent bumps. Remove both fragile and heavy items from table tops including houseplants, vases, ashtrays, and items a child can knock or pull off. Museum putty secures lamps and necessary items to the table.
Cover electrical sockets. Remove unnecessary extension cords around the house. Not only are they tripping hazards, curious children may pull on them.
Invest in doorstops, window locks, cabinet and drawer locks in your kitchen, bathroom; anything you don’t want curious children to open.
Install gates on stairways to prevent children wandering to other floors, and to prevent falls.
Don't leave sharp items out, even temporarily. Don’t leave sewing supplies, cooking implements, hot irons out. Put them away when you are finished using them. If the phone or doorbell rings while you’re using or putting something away, be sure to finish putting it away before you answer.
Lock unloaded gun and firearms in a secure cabinet. Lock away bullets and ammunition in another cabinet. Do not allow children to handle guns. Guns are not toys.
Kitchens are full of sharp objects and hot things. It is best to secure a baby in a high chair or playpen. Toddlers should be kept out of the room when food is being prepared, if possible.
Hairdyers, curling irons, hot rollers in bathrooms are especially hazardous. Never use this appliance if someone is in the shower, bath. Make sure there is no water in the sink and the toilet lid is closed.
On vacation or when visiting other people's homes, know where sharp items and appliances are kept. Take safety gates along with you. Not everyone's home is organized with children in mind.
Keep visitors’ and your own handbag out of reach of children. Even a nail clipper or small scissor is a hazard.
Allow your child to use safety scissors, blunt knives, markers and crayons. Avoid pens, pencils and pencil sharpeners.
What should children know about indoor safety?
Babies and Toddlers
Secure babies in a highchair or playpen, near enough for you to see them but far away from dangerous objects and situations. Toddlers can learn that a stove is “hot.” They will actually enjoy showing off their knowledge. “No” is a powerful learning tool. Sharp knives, scissors, appliances, are things that are “no.”
Keep all dangerous objects locked away from babies and toddlers.
Older Children
By the time they turn four, children can understand the things they can do to stay safe. By talking to children, and setting a good example, you can help them learn:
Never touch anything this is sharp or gets hot. If you see or find something sharp or hot lying around, tell a parent or other adult.
Always wait for food and drinks that come out of the oven or microwave to cool off before you put it in your mouth.
Always wash your hands with soap before you touch food. That gets rid of the germs that could get on your food and make you sick.
Never climb on windows.
Never take anything to eat or drink without asking your parents first
Never pull on extension cords or electrical wires.
Never touch anything electrical if your hands and feet are wet.
Never handle or touch a gun. If another child is holding a gun, leave the area as quickly as possible. Notify a trusted caregiver immediately.
What are some indoor safety concerns?
Homes are minefields of dangers for children. Watch out for these:
Ovens and Stoves Hot things in the kitchen include stoves, ovens, microwaves, toasters, pots, pans, etc. Young children should be far away (or even in another room) when a stove or oven is turned on – and certainly when the oven door is open. Toddlers who are unsteady on their feet can trip and grab the oven door for support, thus burning themselves.
Dishwashers hold sharp objects and breakable items. Keep the door locked at all times.
Hot Foods and Liquids Always test foods first before giving them to a child. Remember hot liquids as well as solids. Most childhood burns come from hot liquids.
Microwave Oven Food may not look hot when it first comes out of the microwave, but it may be superheated. Children should always wait before putting it in their mouths. Children should not be near a microwave oven that’s turned on, in case of radiation leakage
Pots, pans, placemats, and dangling cords Accidents often occur from kids grabbing the handles of pots or pans that are sticking over the edge of a stove or counter.
Children may also cause accidents by pulling on a dangling electrical cord that’s attached to an appliance, or a placemat that has something hot or sharp on top of it.
Install or have a plumber install anti-scald devices in your faucets and showerheads.
Set your water heater for no more than 120 degree Fahrenheit.
Sharp things include knives, can openers, food processor blades, corkscrews, lids from tin cans, etc. Even when young children help in the kitchen, they should never use these sorts of utensils or appliances. These should only be handled by an adult.
Electricty. Electricity is safe when used properly. Have all wiring done by a licensed electrician. Cover all sockets with plastic covers. Keep extension cords away from children. Tell children they must never touch anything electrical if their hands or feet are wet. Keep water away from electrical appliances.
Guns and Firearms If you must have a gun in your home keep it locked up. The gun should be stored unloaded with the bullets locked away separately,
Stairs and Steps Prevent accidental tumbles. Put gates at the top and bottom of the stairs. Remove scatter rugs and throw rugs that can slip across a floor.
Garages contain a variety of hazardous items such lawn mowers, tools, paints, weed killers and chemicals. The best thing is to keep children out of garages.
Keep all hazardous and poisonous objects in a high, locked cabinet.
Windows and doors have moving parts that can slam on a child. Install locks and gates on windows, and special doorstops and door holders to keep them from slamming.
What to do if your child is hurt.
Symptoms
These are all emergencies:
You cannot stop bleeding.
The child is in pain, collapses, or is unconscious.
There is tissue damage to the skin from a burn
You or your child hears a bone snap or a grinding noise during injury.
There is pain, tenderness, or a feeling a pins and needles.
Your child cannot put weight on a limb or move it.
A body part is partially or fully amputated.
Call 911.
Symptoms depend on the age and constitution of the child. Serious injuries must be treated as a 911 emergency.
Be Prepared
Have the phone number for your own family doctor handy.
Learn First Aid
Learn how to do CPR and the Heimlich maneuver.
Use common sense at all times.
Where to get help and more information
General Child Safety
This is a general site about chid safety, first aid, and what to do in an emergency:
Child Proof Your Home
This site gives information on devices to help you childproof your home:
Have Emergency Numbers handy. Print out and fill in the Emergency Sheet that follows the First Aid Guidelines. Hang it near or behind your front door. Make sure your children, babysitters, and neighbors know where it is.
First Aid
General Guidelines
These general guidelines apply to all emergencies:
If in doubt always call 911.
If you stay calm then the person you are helping will also stay calm.
Check to see if the person is conscious by talking to them. If the person is unconscious, but is breathing and has a pulse, place them on their side (recovery position). Call 911
If there is no pulse and/or they are not breathing, Call 911. Then immediately start CPR.
Burns
Know the difference between a 1st degree (skin reddens with some swelling); 2nd degree (blisters and intense redness); and 3rd degree (deeper with tissue and potential nerve damage) burns.
Remove clothing from affected area unless it is stuck.
First degree burns can be treated with cool water until the pain lessens.
Seek emergency treatment. Call 911 if
It is a second or third-degree burn.
The affected area is large and there is tissue damage.
The injury is on the face, scalp, hands or genitals.
The burn came from an fire, electrical wire or socket, or chemicals.
The burn looks infected
Broken Bones
All broken bones are emergencies.
Remove clothing from injured limb if you can
Apply ice or a cold compress
Do not move but support the injured limb by
Placing soft padding around the injured limb
Placing a splint underneath using something firm like rolled up newspaper
Holding the splint in place with first aid tape.
Bring the child a medical care facility.
If the injury involves the head, neck or back, or if the bone comes through the skin do not move the child. Do not wash the wound. Just apply a clean compress. Call 911 and get emergency help immediately
Cuts and Bleeding
Most cuts can be treated at home.
Apply clean compresses to stop the bleeding.
Keep applying bandages or compresses until bleeding stops.
Raise the affected arm or leg to slow bleeding.
Use a sunscreen to prevent dark scarring.
See a doctor
When the cut is deep or the side are far apart.
It goes from the pink part of the lip into the face.
You cannot stop or control the bleeding.
It is from an animal bite.
Get emergency care. Call 911
If the blood is spurting.
A body part that is partially or fully amputated.
If bandages are soaked with blood.
Afterwards
After treatment is administered, your child will most likely make a full recovery. The doctor will have ruled out serious problems and possible delayed effects. In the event your child becomes ill, go to the hospital emergency room or contact your doctor.