Keeping kids safe

Motor vehicle accidents, drownings and home fires are the leading causes of death in children 5 and younger. The good news is, many such tragedies are preventable.

Motor vehicle accidents

In Yuma and throughout the United States, the No. 1 killer of children is motor vehicle accidents, said Jim Miller, coordinator for the Yuma County Health Department Injury Prevention Program and the Yuma County Safekids Program. That includes children killed in collisions as well as those struck by vehicles while playing on or near a street.

The biggest mistake parents make is forgetting to buckle car seats, Miller said. When a child is strapped in a car seat that is not buckled down, the child has an extra 20 pounds attached and can shoot through the air like a missile in the event of a collision.

Take an extra minute to make sure the child is properly secured, he said.

Adults should also learn to properly install and use car seats, he said. Although how-to manuals that accompany new car seats can be vague or confusing, parents can attend free car seat safety classes taught in English or Spanish by certified technicians at the Yuma Fire Department Station No. 5 twice a month.

Free car seat checks and classes are also offered daily by appointment at Yuma Regional Medical Center.

As far as vehicle/pedestrian accidents, adults should constantly supervise children and teach them to stay away from streets and vehicles, Miller said.

For more information, call Miller at 317-4667, the Yuma Fire Department at 373-4850 or YRMC at 336-7058.

Home fires

Nationwide, children age 5 and younger account for 12 percent of home fire deaths, said Mike Erfert, public information/education officer with the city of Yuma Fire Department.

Sometimes they die in closets or under beds, where they hide after being separated from parents. "They usually do not have the thought processes to think independently about how to escape," Erfert said.

But parents can increase their children's chances of survival. Parents should install smoke detectors and fire extinguishers in homes and check them monthly to ensure they are working.

And parents should regularly practice Exit Drills In The Home (EDITH) with the children. An EDITH brochure provided by the Yuma Fire Department urges parents to include their children in making a step-by-step plan for escaping a fire. This plan would include identifying exit doors and windows in every room, teaching the children how to use them and designating an outside meeting place where everyone would meet after escaping.

And teach children to tell firefighters if someone is missing, Erfert said. "Firefighters will approach a fire much differently if they think someone is inside."

Many home fires are started by small children, he said. "You've heard that saying, 'Curiosity killed the cat'? Well, you can't get more curious than a 4- or 5-year-old kid."

Parents should not only teach children that matches and lighters are "tools, not toys," parents should keep them out of children's reach at all times, Erfert said. "Don't leave them on a coffee table and say, 'Don't touch.' Kids are naturally curious about fire.

"To a kid, fire is magic. Flick your Bic and there's a flame."

Fire safety brochures are available upon request at local fire stations and at City Hall Fire Administration, Erfert said. You may call him at 373-4855 to schedule fire safety classes for groups in homes, schools or businesses. He also recommends the National Fire Prevention Association Web site at www.nfpa.org for more information and safety tips.

Drownings

Children age 4 and younger are at high risk of drowning, so adults must supervise them at all times and make sure safety devices are in place, said Erfert and Miller.

Although canals and swimming pools are obvious threats, children can also drown in small amounts of any liquid.

A toddler can fall head-first into a toilet or a bucket of colorful, sweet-smelling antifreeze and die in just a few minutes, Miller said.

Adults can protect children by not keeping open containers of liquids around.

Adults should also install potty latches on toilets.

And they should never leave children in a bathtub unsupervised, not even for a minute, Miller said. They should always get a child out of the tub and take the youngster with them if they must answer the door or phone.

Pools should have fences children cannot climb over or squeeze through, as well as self-latching gates, Miller said.

In place of pool fences, some homeowners consider an exterior home wall to be a barrier between children and swimming pools. But children may be able to get through any windows or doors along those walls, so adults must keep them locked and watch the children at all times, Miller said.

And they should not count on alarms to do the supervising for them, he warned. Alarms have been known to fail.

Sometimes children drown during family gatherings, when adults assume someone else is watching the child, Miller said. To avoid such tragedy, adults should designate a specific person to be in charge of the child. If that adult needs to leave the area for any reason, that adult would be responsible for designating another.

The Safekids Program offers free "Official Water Watcher" tags with safety whistles upon request. The person who wears it is easily identifiable as the adult who agrees to constantly watch the children around water, or to pass the tag on to another adult who agrees to then take responsibility. With the tag, adults do not have to assume someone else is watching the children. They absolutely know who is.

Call Miller at 317-4667 or stop by the Yuma County Health Department at 2200 W. 28th St. to pick up a tag and whistle.

What to do if ...

Your home catches fire

There is no standard set of steps that would fit all the possible scenarios. But if you have regularly practiced Exit Drills In the Home (EDITH), and you are separated from your child by fire, he may remember to escape through the exit (window or door) nearest him. If he is unable to open it, he may remember to wait at the exit for an adult to rescue him. Do not chance leaving him orphaned by trying to go through the fire to rescue him. Escape through the door or window nearest you, then from outside, rush to your child's point of exit to help him escape.

If you are with your child and there is smoke in the home, get down low and crawl, feeling along the wall for a door or window to escape through. Instruct your child to get down low as well. Feel each door before opening it. If it is hot, there may be fire on the other side. Do not open it, or the fire will spread more quickly. Stay calm and lead your child to another exit.

Also teach your child to "stop, drop and roll" if he does catch fire. Teach him not to run because running will cause the flames to go up.

Source: Mike Erfert, public information/education officer, Yuma Fire Department

You find a child floating face down in a swimming pool

First, get the child out of the pool.

If you know CPR: Do one minute of CPR, call 911, then resume CPR.

If you do not know CPR, call 911. While paramedics are on the way, the dispatcher may be able to walk you through the CPR process.

Source: Mike Erfert

You and your child are involved in a motor vehicle accident

Stay calm. Panic is contagious; do not spread panic to your child.

Call 911.

Unless there is obvious threat of fire of other danger, do not move your child while waiting for paramedics to arrive.

If you must move him, do not remove him from the car seat. Instead, move the car seat with the child in it, to avoid aggravating any injuries

Source: Mike Erfert

Your child has ingested a harmful substance

Some substances can cause a child to gag, choke, have difficulty breathing or lose consciousness. If this happens, call 911. Operators are trained to dispatch paramedics to your location and to coordinate conference calls between you and the National Poison Control Center, which can tell you what to do until help arrives.

If the child is not exhibiting signs of obvious distress, you could call the National Poison Center Hotline at 1-800-222-1222. Depending on your situation, operators may tell you to hang up and call 911, drive the child to the nearest emergency room, or how to handle the situation yourself.

Source: Paul Delligatti, poison control specialist at the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center in Tucson.

Home safety tips

Install and maintain carbon monoxide and smoke detectors in every sleeping area.

Remove all toys, pillows, soft bedding and plastic materials from baby cribs.

Use safety gates at top and bottom of stairs.

Keep poisonous plants out of children's reach.

Set your water heater thermostat at 120 degrees or less.

Keep detergents, household products, pet supplies, medicines and vitamins locked and out of children's

reach.

Keep fire extinguishers easily accessible.

Use back burners or turn pot handles toward back of stove when cooking.

Source: Yuma County Safekids. Find more tips at www.yumasafekids.org, or the Yuma County Health Department, 2200 W. 28th St.

Nancy Gilkey can be reached at ngilkey@yumasun.com or 539-6851.