June 2019 Young Children Newsletter
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. Now that summer is quickly approaching,
there are many potential projects that can be done to educate the public and
help prevent injuries while kids are enjoying their summer vacation.
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.
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.
Support A Pediatric Trauma Program
****KIWANIS PEDIATRIC TRAUMA INSTITUTE (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
Other safety brochures available from
KPTI
Window Safety
Summer Safety
Pedestrian Safety
Water Safety
Holiday/Winter Safety
Fire Safety
After School Safety
Poison Information
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 problems of children and car safety
– 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 continue.
Kiwanis Foundation of New England
P.O. Box 2307
Westfield, MA 01086
Sincerely,
Ava Adams, District Chair
Young Children Committee
New England and Bermuda District
