In our first story we did last year about accidents involving kids entitled ‘Are Your Kids Safe?’ we found out that according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission “A child dies every two weeks in this country from a tipover incident involving a TV, a piece of furniture, or a TV and a piece of furniture. Every 24 minutes a child is admitted to the emergency room because of a TV and/or a furniture tipover.”
We were actually very surprised by what we found in the first article so are going to make it a regular feature. In today’s episode we are bringing you more examples of how dangerous being a child can be. Read on to learn more.
Our first story comes to us from Ireland where according to a report approximately one in six 3-year-olds has had an accident or injury that required hospital treatment or admission to a hospital. According to the study, those most at risk were children in one parent households.
The report showed that the injury prevalence was higher for boys than girls. At present, according to the report, there is “no national policy on child injury prevention.”
This story from the pages of the Washington Post claims that 265 children under the age of 18 picked up a firearm and accidentally shot themselves or someone else in 2015. That averages five accidental shootings per week. Many of the shooters tended to be toddlers or young kids firing guns completely by accident or teens playing with guns recklessly. It is unclear whether these numbers are going up or down, the story says, because this is the first time these figures have been tallied.
Accidents with guns wouldn’t happen if parents were more responsible and put their firearms in a firearm safe. Any one of our 37 different Gun Safes will do the job of securing your firearm and keep it out of the reach of your children.
In the health section of a recent U.S. News & World Report Dr. Elaine Cox, the author of this article, is the medical director of infection prevention at Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health in Indianapolis.
In her article Dr. Cox makes the claim that accidents involving cars are the leading cause of preventable injury and death for U.S. children. That is quite a statement! The article makes the point that it starts in the hospital parking lot when the newborn baby leaves hospital where infant car seats are improperly used – 73% of them. Then once the baby seat is in place, multiple hazards still exist. Car seats and boosters seats should be used in accordance with state laws. They should only be purchased new or from a personal contact. Car seats should be registered with the manufacturer so that recalls can be effective.
Children, of course, should never be left alone in the car. In 2015 at least 105 cars that had children in them were reported stolen and by now every parent knows about the risks of heatstroke and brain damage to children left alone in a car with the windows rolled up.
Please share with us your experiences with accidents involving your kids. Who knows maybe one of our readers can benefit from your incident!