EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT/
YOUNG CHILDREN PRIORITY ONE NEWSLETTER
AVA ADAMS, DISTRICT CHAIR
NEW ENGLAND AND BERMUDA DISTRICT
July 2017
Good Morning fellow Kiwanians!
Fact:
Every year 60% of drownings occur in rural lakes, ponds and gravel pits.
Fact:
Preventable injury is the number one killer of children in most developed
countries.
Fact:
In a single year more than 14 million children in the U.S. are injured
seriously enough to require medical treatment.
Fact:
Heat is much more dangerous to children than it is to adults. When left in a
hot vehicle, a young child’s core body temperature can increase three to five
times faster than that of an adult, which can cause permanent injury or even
death. (“Children In And Around Cars” www.safekids.org)
SAFETY AND PEDIATRIC TRAUMA
It
only takes one accident to permanently injure or kill a child. That is why
parents and children need safety education. In the United States alone, several
thousand children age 4 and under die each year because of accidental injuries.
Forty-five times that number are hospitalized. The leading causes of death for
children 1 to 4 years old are motor vehicles, fires/ burns, drowning, choking,
poisonings and falls. When a serious accident does occur, special expertise and
equipment may be needed to save the child’s life. That is why a pediatric
trauma center should be linked to every community.
HOME SAFETY CHECKLIST***
The
Home Safety Checklist Brochure is designed to help protect family members from
unintentional injuries. It is designed to be an easy room-to-room survey that
will quickly point out dangers that need to be changed immediately. It covers
the kitchen, basement and garages, outdoor play areas, bathroom, child's
bedroom, play areas, windows, stairs and railings, electrical outlets, and
fixtures, and general living areas.
WHAT
CAN KIWANIS CLUBS DO?
Distribute
this brochure to Pediatricians, Clinics, Day Care Center,
Health
Fairs, Pre-school Programs, Health Department, Hospitals that offer Prenatal
Classes or New Mom Classes.
OPEN WATER SAFETY***
This
brochure covers tips for open water safety: never swim in drainage ditches,
what to do in an emergency situation if a child is struggling in the water or
if a child is unconscious in the water etc.
Distribute
this brochure to schools, day care centers, Fire/Police Departments, Fishing
Derby, any organized family day sponsored by Kiwanis, pool supply stores,
public beach concession stands.
OTHER PROJECT IDEAS
Set up a car seat program***
Kiwanis
clubs can make sure that safety seats are available to everyone in the
community by setting up a car seat loan program. This involves purchasing or
securing donations of new car seats, establishing a location (car dealership,
hospital, police station) from which the seats will be loaned or given,
establishing the criteria for providing a seat to a family and making sure the people
handing out the car seats have the training to install them properly.
Educate the community about scald burns***
Smoke Alarm Safety
One-third
of the smoke detectors installed in houses don’t work. If a fire occurs, they
won’t make a sound, because most smoke alarms still contain their original
batteries. A simple project can solve this problem: an annual campaign for
everyone to check the batteries in their smoke detectors. This can involve ads
in the local paper or distribution of fliers. This campaign can be expanded to
include distribution of batteries and smoke detectors in neighborhoods.
Distribute Choke-Test Tubes
An
adult learns about an object by looking at it. A young child learns about it by
putting it in his mouth. Telling a toddler to stop putting objects in his mouth
has little or no effect. The proper safety precaution is to make sure the child
doesn’t play with toys on which he could choke, and there is a device—called a
choke- test tube—that helps parents determine this. If a toy or the
smallest
piece of a toy fit inside the tube, it is unsafe for children age 3 and under.
The federal government has established a size for safe toys for kids under 3: A
small part should be at least 1.25 inch diameter and 2.25 inch long. Any part smaller
than this is a potential choking hazard. When parents shop for a toy, they need
to make sure it has no parts smaller than these dimensions. Inexpensive,
clear
plastic tubes that parents can use to test small parts are available from
stores specializing in children’s toys and furnishings. A toilet paper roll or
other empty cardboard tube would also work to test toys if a choke-test tube is
unavailable. Distributing the tubes and educating parents could be a project by
itself, or it could be part of a parenting fair or seminar.
Educate the Community About Poisons
The
same impulse that leads a child to swallow a toy may impel him to drink or eat
a poisonous substance. Clubs can help parents through an awareness campaign
that reminds them to keep paints, cleaning compounds, beauty aids and even
house plants out of the reach of young children. “Mr. Yuck” stickers can be
distributed, so that parents can label poisonous substances with a consistent
warning that they discuss with their children. Contact the local hospital or
poison control center to get the stickers. Finally, a club could print and
distribute copies of a chart that tells parents what to do if their children
consume a poisonous substance. Educational pamphlets on poisons, designed for
distribution in the community, are available from the National Safety Council
at 800-621- 7619, and the American Academy of Pediatrics at 800-433-9016.
Lead Poisoning Awareness
National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week:
October 22-28, 2017
During
this year’s Lead Poisoning Prevention Week the National Center for
Healthy Housing raises awareness about lead poisoning. For more
information : www.nchh.org
Support A Pediatric Trauma Program
****KIWANIS
PEDIATRIC TRAUMA CENTER (KPTI) is supported by the Kiwanis Foundation of New
England and other sponsors. Materials are available from KPTI which deal with
prevention. ***materials available from
KPTI
Support The Children's Miracle Network
Hospitals in Your Areas
A
club might consider starting any number of Young Children: Priority One
projects at an area children’s hospital, and donate the funds raised for it
through CMN. (Be sure that the hospital is a member of the Children’s Miracle
Network.) Club members should discuss with the hospital’s CMN coordinator the
possibility of setting up a special Kiwanis Young Children: Priority One fund,
so that the club can have a better idea of how its funds are affecting the
well-being of young children.
Car Safety In And Around Cars
Nearly
10% of motor vehicle related deaths DO NOT occur on public highways or in
vehicular accidents or traffic, but happen in parking lots, driveways or when
children are left unattended in vehicles. This is a serious public health issue
and these deaths are totally preventable.
NEVER LEAVE A CHILD ALONE IN OR NEAR A CAR
From
1998 to 2010, more than 494 children – most of them 2 years old and younger –
died from heat stroke after being left or becoming trapped in a car.
These
deaths fall into three main categories: children who were trapped while playing
in a vehicle without supervision; children who were accidentally left behind;
and children who were intentionally left alone in a car.
Leaving a child in a vehicle for a “quick”
errand is a huge mistake. A delay of just a few minutes on a warm day can lead
to tragedy.
SPOT THE TOT
Each
year almost 2,500 children ages 1 to 14 go to emergency rooms with injuries
sustained from a vehicle backing up. On average, another 230 kids in that same
age group die, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Danger can come from any direction, and children should never play in
driveways, in parking lots or on sidewalks when vehicles are present.
PREVENTING TRUNK ENTRAPMENT
For
many kids, a car trunk looks like a fun place to play or hide. Tragically, many
families have discovered that kids can get in but they can’t always get out. A
trunk can be deadly for an unattended child.
Children
can access trunks in several ways, even without having the vehicle’s keys. Most
cars have a lever or button located near the driver’s seat that pops the trunk
open, while other cars also have fold-down seats or a “pass through” that
enables children to climb into the trunk from the back seat. Always lock all
vehicle doors. For more information, a
brochure and checklist for parents, go to www.safekids.org
Kiwanis Clubs can help by increasing public
awareness of this problem – distribute information at grocery stores, to
childcare centers, pediatrician’s offices etc.
I
hope there is at least one project that motivates you to do more for our
children to promote safety in our communities. Imagine the lives and money we
could save by promoting prevention education to parents and families. With the
high cost of hospitalization, insurance and emergency room care today in the
U.S. we could all do
our
part to educate parents to keep their children safe and possibly lower rising
health care costs.
Please remember that without the support of
the Kiwanis Foundation of New England the Kiwanis Pediatric Trauma Center
Programs could not function.
So I hope your Club will consider making a
donation to the KFNE, and if you wish the money to go to KPTI you can indicate
“KPTI” on the memo line of your check. Kiwanis Clubs need to support these
programs if we wish them to con
Sincerely,
Ava Adams
Young Children Priority One, District Chair
New England and Bermuda District
email: faithava2008@yahoo.com
