Consumer Protection warns about childhood injuries in the home.
As kids get out of school and spend more time at home for the summer months, there’s more risk for unintentional injuries in the house.
These are injuries that can easily be prevented, says Brock Bergey with Wisconsin Consumer Protection. “These are unintentional injuries that are often the result of kids being kids.”
Bergey says it’s not the amusement park, the school or the playground that parents need to worry the most about. Each year, about 3.5 million children, under age 14, are treated for unintentional injuries at home; another 2,000 die. The major problem area is the kitchen. “Burns, falls, choking, poisoning.”
Bergey says there are some common sense prevention ideas, such as turning the handle of pots and pans inward on the stove-top, lock cabinets, invest in a stairway gate, attach dressers to the wall, and use electric outlet covers. He says it’s a good time to reevaluate child-proofing the entire house. And, if kids are old enough, talk to them about the potential dangers.
Nearly 2,000 youngsters died in Wisconsin from 2002 to 2006 from unintentional injuries in the home.
Related link: Children Safety Network