Summer Safety Awareness

Summer days are here! The blue skies and the warm weather bring us outdoors to enjoy all the activities of the season. Take precautions to keep you and your family safe.

Skin Safety
Protect the skin from the damage of sunburn and its long-term harmful effects. Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) from the sun can cause early aging of the skin and skin cancer. One third of all new cancers are skin cancer. Prevention and early detection are easy. Individuals with light skin, blue eyes, red hair and or freckles are six times more at risk for skin cancer than are those with darker skin, hair and eyes. A blistering sunburn occurring early in life doubles the skin cancer risk. Protect your skin by wearing an appropriate sunscreen. A sun protection factor (SPF) of 15 is adequate for most skin. It should be applied at least 30 minutes before sun exposure and should be used liberally. Reapply every two hours or more often if swimming or perspiring heavily. Sunscreens are not recommended for infants one year and under. Clothing and shade should protect their very sun-sensitive skin.

Water Safety - Prevent Dehydration
It is essential to take in enough fluids during the summer heat waves to prevent dehydration. Signs of mild dehydration include fatigue, headaches, dizziness and weakness. How much fluid your body needs depends on the climate and your age, exercise level and body weight. The average adult loses about 10 cups of water on a typical day. During hot weather or increased physical activity, this need is greatly increased. Most people need eight to 12 cups of fluid a day. The best advice is to drink before, during, and after any physical activity. Drink four to eight ounces of fluid every 15 minutes while exercising. Don't rely on thirst, which is the body's first symptom of dehydration. Water is the best choice. The body absorbs it faster than any other fluid and it is calorie-free. Juice and milk are mostly water, so the full amount counts toward your fluid intake. Be aware they do contribute calories. Alcohol and caffeinated beverages (coffee, tea and colas) should not be counted as part of your fluid intake. They act as diuretics, causing increased water loss through urine, and actually increase your fluid needs.

Water Safety - Drowning Prevention
Drowning is the leading cause of death for children under 2 years and the second leading cause of death in adolescents. Of those surviving near drowning, up to 20% suffer severe and permanent disability. Two-thirds of all drownings happen between May and August with the month of July having the highest number. Approximately 50% of preschooler drownings occur in residential swimming pools and for those age 2 and under, 60% to 80% occur in swimming pools. Sixty-five percent occur at the child's home. Shockingly, 77% of the drowned preschoolers were missing from sight for 5 minutes or less. What can you do? First of all, put a fence with self-closing, self-locking gates around the pool. Learn and practice CPR. Teach children how to swim. During a gathering, designate a guardian, who is neither drinking or socializing, whose primary focus is pool safety. Make a list of rules and post them in the pool area. Above all, NEVER leave children unattended while near water.

Car Safety - Buckle Up
Car crashes are the number one cause of death for children. Remember, every time a child rides with you, restrain them with a child's car seat or seat belt. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) states that using child restraints can improve a child's chance of surviving a crash by 71 percent. Use a car seat that meets federal safety standards and read the instructions that come with the car seat. Do not use a safety seat that is more than 10 years old. In fact, some manufacturers recommend that seats more than 5 years old be destroyed. Replace any car seat that has been involved in a crash. Four out of five car seats are used wrong. The national Safe Kids Campaign offers the following rules for safety travel for kids:

• Infants until at least 1 year old and at least 20 pounds should be in rear-facing car seats.

• Kids over 1 year old and between 20 and 40 pounds can be in forward-facing car seats.

• Kids between 40 and about about 60/80 pounds (usually 4 to 8 years old) should be in booster seats.

• Usually kids over 80 pounds and 8 years old can fit correctly in I

• All children should ride in the back seat (the safest place for any child to ride). Never place a rear-facing infant in the front seat of a vehicle with a passenger air bag.

Before you take your child out of their booster seats, they should be able to meet the following 5 requirements:

1. The child must sit up straight with his back tight against the seat.

2. The knees should be bent over the edge of the seat without any slouching.

3. The shoulder belt should fit snuggly against the middle of the shoulder.

4. The lap belt should ride in the upper thigh - lower hip area.

5. The child must be able to sit in this position for the entire ride.

Remember, air bags save lives. They are responsible for a 30 percent reduction in driver fatalities of passenger cars involved in head on collisions. But, they can be fatal to young children riding in the front seat of a car. The safest place for any child under the age of 13 is properly belted in the back seat. Babies (under 20 pounds or age 1) should always be in a safety seat in the back seat facing the rear. Holding a child in your arms is known as the "child crusher position." Children properly secured in a safety seat are safer, behave better, can see out the window, are less likely to be carsick and are more likely to fall asleep.

Bicycle Safety
Bicycling is a great way to enjoy the outdoors and get the added bonus of exercise. Follow the rules for a safe outing: Ride on the right hand side of the street and move with the flow of traffic. Obey the traffic laws, signs, signals and pavement markings. Hand signal your turns or stops. Stop and look before you enter a street from a driveway or sidewalk. Slow down and look and listen when you come to a corner. Drive your bicycle only during daylight hours. Avoid broken pavement, litter, loose gravel, mud and leaves. These can cause you to lose control of your bicycle. Be courteous and give cars and pedestrians the right-of-way.

Always protect your head with a safety helmet. Experts say helmet use during wheel-related activities reduces brain injury - the leading killer and disabler of kids - by up to 88 percent. New research unveiled by the National SAFE KIDS Campaign shows that nearly half (47 percent) of children hospitalized for bike-related injuries suffer from a traumatic brain injury. Dr. C. Everett Koop, former U.S. Surgeon General and chairman of the National SAFE KIDS Campaign states, "Damage to the brain from an external blow can affect one's ability to walk, talk, and think. The consequences can be devastating and permanent and change a child's life-- suddenly and forever."

Food Safety
It is especially important to use good safety practices with food handling in the summertime. The "danger zone" temperatures for food are between 40 degrees F and 140 degrees F where bacteria multiply rapidly. The motto is, "Keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold." Summertime and barbecues go hand-in-hand. Never put cooked food on a platter, which contained raw meat or poultry. Marinate meat and poultry in a covered dish in the refrigerator unless cooking them within the hour. Never partially cook food to finish later.

Lawn Mower Safety
Painful injuries, loss of fingers, toes, and even eyes can be avoided by following safety rules. Keep the lawn mower properly maintained. Riding mowers are not meant for passengers who could fall under the mower and sustain serious injuries. Before mowing, inspect the area to be mowed for large stones, tree branches, nails, and such. These objects can be picked up by the mower and expelled at bullet-like speeds. Power mowers should be operated on dry grass. Push the mower forward; never pull it backward toward you. A sloping lawn should be mowed across, never up and down. Wear sturdy shoes and long pants while mowing. Children and pets should not be allowed on or near the lawn when the mower is in use. Children under the age of 5 should be kept indoors during mowing to avoid the possibility of their running into the mower's path.

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