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Keeping Children Safe - How to Prevent Choking Hazards
Are you a parent or
caregiver? It likely crosses your mind a dozen times
a day how quickly accidents can happen.
Perhaps you fished a coin out of your
toddler's mouth before they tried to swallow it. Or
maybe your older child was horsing around and their
clothing got caught as they jumped off a jungle gym
at the playground.
Does it seem almost impossible to prepare
for disaster without putting your children in a bubble?
The good news from the National Safe
Kids Campaign is that death from accidental injury has
gone down. That includes motor vehicle deaths, burns,
firearms, drowning, airway obstruction, falls and poisoning.
But no accident is a good accident,
and death from accidental choking, suffocation and strangulation
is still one of the leading causes of accidental death
for children. Most of these deaths occurred in the home
and involved children aged four and under.
TEST FOR SAFETY
Sixty-two percent of accidental deaths
caused by toys involved a blocked airway. With more
than 80% of emergency room visits for airway obstruction
being in children under 4, there is a simple test that
can be done to prevent children from having access to
toys that are likely culprits.
Using a standard toilet paper roll,
try to drop or push the toy through the opening. If
the toy fits through or gets stuck then it is a choking
hazard.
Since babies - especially those one
and under - are developmentally programmed to put things
in their mouth, parents and caregivers should give special
attention to small items which may get in the child's
grasp. Pennies, grapes, popcorn, buttons and small toys
like Barbie doll shoes are all potential hazards. Balloons
and other plastic or rubber materials are especially
hazardous items for babies.
Even larger toys should be regularly
checked by giving a firm tug on parts to check for possible
breakage.
REMOVE RISKS
Toys or clothing with strings are potentially
dangerous causes of strangulation. Toys with strings
over one foot long should not be used by young children.
Drawstrings on hoods should be removed. This is particularly
important at playgrounds where more than half of drawstring
entanglements occurred on playground slides.
Blind cords are also a strangulation
danger and should not be accessible by children. Cords
that do not loop are safer, but hooking them out of
reach is the only sure prevention.
Children are at risk of strangulation
whenever they can get their body through an opening
that doesn't fit their head. Bunk bed and crib rails
and playground equipment may become dangerous in this
regard. Supervision while playing as well as examination
of beds with rails is necessary, especially with older
beds that do not meet current safety guidelines.
Suffocation is also a risk when young
babies are put to sleep on soft bedding - especially
when sleeping on their stomachs. Recent 'back to sleep'
campaigns have improved awareness and decreased the
occurrence of deaths from suffocation.
Young babies who sleep with parents
or other children are also at risk of being unintentionally
smothered. Babies should not sleep with children who
may not be conscious of their presence when deep in
sleep. And parents should definitely avoid co-sleeping
if intoxicated or otherwise induced into a heavy sleep.
Accidents happen, but taking reasonable
precautions will help safeguard your children and give
you peace of mind.
1howto.com
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