Summer is the season when backyards are most alluring. Kids have time to play, and summer weather beckons them into swimming pools. Unfortunately, backyard injuries — ranging from broken bones to head traumas to worse — are all too common. Your friends at Buzz want you to have a fun and safe summer. Here are a few tips to make it happen.
Water Safety
Getting in a pool cools kids down and provides a fun way to exercise. But drowning is the leading cause of injury death for kids aged one to four, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Half of child drownings happen in the family’s backyard pool. Keep your loved ones safe from this stat by supervising kids in or around water. Teach your children to swim from a young age. And fence off that pool. You need a four-sided fence with a self-closing and self-latching gate. Consider a pool fence.
Trampoline Safety
Trampolines are popular backyard gear, but are responsible for about 92,000 emergency-room visits annually. Usually these fractures and spinal injuries happen because kids aren’t practicing trampoline safety. For example, only one person should be on the trampoline at a time. Nor should kids do dumb things like trying to ride a bike on a trampoline. But kids will be kids, which is why trampoline use should be supervised.
Equipment Safety
You can increase the safety of backyard play structures by keeping them properly maintained – tighten loose and replace rusty parts. Since many bones break when kids fly off swings or monkey bars, provide a soft landing. Shredded rubber or wood chips soften falls. Make sure the material is at least twelve inches deep and spreads out six feet from the play structures. And only provide your kids with age-appropriate equipment – because you know that toddler will sneak out and play on the monkey bars if given half a chance.
Sun Dangers
Kids up to the age of four are at the greatest risk of heat-related illnesses. Dress the tiny tots in loose, light-colored, lightweight clothing. On the summer’s hottest days, mornings and evenings are better playtimes than noon. Sunscreen and hats can keep kids safe from sunburns now and skin cancer later.
Be Prepared
Taking CPR and first aid makes you a more prepared parent and a more useful citizen. Sign up at your local Red Cross. You never know whose life you might be called on to save.
We hope you and your family have a thoroughly fun and safe summer. Give us a call if we can help make it safer by building a fence and gate for your pool, or a fence to give your children a safe area to play in the yard.
