Safety First - How to Keep your Children Safe
Memorial Hospital West promotes the importance of proper safety for children and their families by offering free information and providing health fairs through the community.
Poison Control:
- Keep medications, chemicals and cleaning solutions out of children's reach.
- Use safety locks on all cabinets.
- Child proof covers on bottles of medications dispensed from a pharmacy.
In Case of Ingestion:
- Call POISON CONTROL at (800) 282-3171 or 911 ASSISTANCE.
- Remain calm and think clearly.
- Look for and identify the poison by brand or type of product.
- Do not induce vomiting unless instructed by the Poison Control or the bottle label.
Wear a Helmet While:
- Bike Riding
- Roller Blading
- Horseback Riding
- Go Carting & Mini Biking
- Skateboarding
See & Be Seen:
- Ride your bike so that cars can see you.
- Always wear your helmet.
- Wear bright colored clothes that reflect light at night.
- For night get a headlight for the front of your bike.
Safety Belts:
- Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death for children five to 15 years old.
- Children risk injury when they are not in proper child restraints.
- Follow all the directions on the car seat box to ensure correct installation.
- Children up to 80 pounds should be restrained in an approved booster seat and proper lap/shoulder harness.
- All children 12 and under are to sit in back seat, especially if car has a passenger side air bag.
Prevent Firearm Injury:
- There is no substitute for firearm safety instruction.
- An improperly stored gun in your home is a danger to your family.
- If you keep a gun, always keep it unloaded and locked up.
- Lock and store bullets in a separate location.
Important Statistics:
- Every 2 hours, someone's child is killed with a loaded gun.
- Every day, 14 children and teens die from guns. Many more are wounded.
- More male teens, aged 15 to 19, are killed by guns than by any natural cause.
- The risk of suicide is five times greater if there is a gun in the home.
- In a national survey of students in grades 6 to 12, 59% indicated that they knew where to get a gun if they needed one, and one third of these said they could get a gun within an hour. 88% of the children who are injured are injured or killed in unintentional shootings are shot in their own homes or in the homes of relatives or friends.