Florida Child Injury Law Blog

Posts Tagged ‘child’

Children playing with fire cause hundreds of injuries and deaths each year. Preschoolers and kindergartners often start these fires, usually  by playing with matches and lighters, and are most likely to die in them.

Facts & figures

• In 2006, children playing with fire started an estimated 14,500 structure fires that were reported to U.S. fire departments, causing an estimated 130 civilian deaths, 810 civilian injuries and $328 million in direct property damage.
• Nearly two-thirds (63%) of all fatal victims of fires by playing are children 5 years old and younger.
• Nearly two out of every three child-playing fires — and four out of five associated deaths and injuries — involve matches or lighters.
• The items ignited by home fire-play are principally mattresses, bedding or clothing.

Source: NFPA’s “Children Playing with Fire“

 A child injury prevention fair is being held at Lee Memorial Hospital in Ft. Myers, this Saturday, January 23rd.   The Emergency and Trauma Services wing at Lee Memorial will be working in conjunction with The Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida to provide activities and information to educate families on how to avoid childhood accidents. 

Some of the areas to be discussed include how to prevent child injuries such as fall accidents, child burn injury and car accident injury.  Healthy snacks will also be available. 

 Michele King, director of the Child Advocacy Program at The Children’s Hospital stated. “There will be so much good information for parents and kids.  It is very interactive.”

 To find out more information on the event, please contact Karen Krieger, Director of Public Affairs at 239-454-8765.

Last month, we reported over 2 million drop side cribs manufactured by Stork Craft had been recalled due to the danger of child entrapment and  strangulation.  Just this week, another manufacturer of drop side cribs, Dorel Industries, is being forced to recall 635,000 cribs due to hazards of infant and toddler strangulation, suffocation and even infant death.

 An online report was published this week suggesting that Dorel Industries may have been persuaded with the recall by actions the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission planned to take.  The report quotes a spokesman with CPSC as saying the commission would take unilateral action to recall 20 various models of Dorel cribs due to hardware issues in drop-side cribs as well as for slats that break.

The report continues to say that because of the potential embarrassment of not issuing a recall in the aftermath of dozens of incidents and the fatality of a baby — Dorel announced the recall with the traditional language of  “in cooperation with” the CPSC.

 In a written statement, Dorel said, “The recall is motivated by isolated reports of broken crib slats and drop-side hardware. In total, 67 incidents were reported and 10 children were bruised or scratched.”  The statement described the circumstances surrounding the infant’s death as highly unusual. 

For more details,  please visit CPSC or call Dorel Asia toll-free at  (866) 762-2304        

We all know how much children love to play.  It’s part of how they lead active and happy lives.  Falls among children are common, and at certain stages of their development happen almost every day.  However they can be serious…in fact falls are the leading cause of accidental injury for children. 

 Statistics from SafeKids.org  state children, 4 years of age and under, have the greatest risk for falls.  This age group accounts for 56 percent of childhood fall-related deaths and more than 40 percent of child injuries.

 Parents must be vigilant and keep a keen eye out in their home.  In fact, 80 percent of fall-related injuries among children ages 4 and under, occur right in their own house. 

 Knowledge is key to safety and injury prevention!  For tips on what you should know to prevent fall injuries and the steps to take, if your child does suffer a fall at home, please follow this link to an article posted in our Florida child injury website document library for more information.

A  recent article published by the Shreveport Times reminds us of what we need to do to protect our children when  riding on a escalator. It is all too common for kids to be injured on these machines in malls and shopping centers. The article outlines safety precautions for Parents to protect children on escalators.

Some  tips include having your child remain in the center of the escalator,  removing your child from his/her  stroller before getting on the escalator, in addition to other tips parents should be aware of to avoid a child injury involving a escalator.  As a public service, we provide you with up to date safety information in an effort to help you become more aware of unintentional injuries to children.

Read this article.

Reading a recent article in the St. Petersburg Times about a 7 year old child who was playing with a lighter setting off a house fire which took firefighters 15 mintues to contain, reminds us all of the need to educate our children about the dangers of  playing with fire.

Child fire safety education is important early in a child’s life. Playing with fire at a early age can lead to fires, burns, and severe scarring which can permanently injury a child for life.

A wonderful website for fire safety for children can be found at Kids Health. This website offers great safety tips on how you can educate your child while making sure your home is safe.  Adult supervision and education are important to  preventing a fire such as the one in the link listed above.

Additional safety information is available on our Florida Child Injury Lawyer website in the document library. Click here for a resource entitled  ”Fire Safety 101.”

A recent report shows a  growing trend of injuries involving children and treadmills  is becoming worse each day.  A study, by researchers according to the article, at Our Lady’s Children Hospital found that a  total of 12 children (eight girls and four boys) were identified with friction burn injuries sustained from treadmills from January 2006 to March 2008, with the number of injuries recorded increasing fourfold between 2006 and 2007.

The injuries that can occur from treadmills can be life threatening. They include pediatric friction burns and require specialist care with the risk of long-term functional and cosmetic problems, split skin grafting, and others.

Research suggests the designs of treadmills should be enhanced to help prevent children from playing on this type of equipment.  Home treadmill injuries can be prevented by close supervision of children.

The Internet offers a tremendous wealth of information and content at our disposal.  Sadly, it’s also become a cyberland where sexual predators prey. 

 The FBI has published a document entitled, “A Parent’s Guide to Internet Safety.”   Here are 5 questions to ask yourself that might indicate your child is at risk.

1. Does your child spend an inordinate amount of time online, especially at night?

2. Have you found pornography on your child’s computer?

3. Does your child receive calls from men you don’t know or do they ever make long distance calls to numbers you don’t recognize?  

4. Does your child ever turn off the computer monitor quickly or change the screen when you enter the room?

5. Does your child use an on-line account belonging to someone else?

If you answered yes to these questions, your child might be at risk.  In Part 2, we’ll list some answers that the FBI offers to those concerned.

Having a hard time finding the right toy for your child this holiday season? Does your child want that “big boy” toy that everyone else has? Be careful about what you choose for your child and factor in the age and how safe it is for them as noted in a recent news article. As stated in the article, “Toys can teach your child a lot. Even if they aren’t always educational, they always should be fun, and of course they always should be safe. Like your mom said, it’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye.”

This article also talks about how to check for the age requirements and how to make sure your not buying a toy that is too advanced for even bright children.  Toys with small pieces and objects that can be swallowed, or scooters and bikes that seem like great fun for getting outside but offer dangers and often contribute to child injuries.

Many toys can become  a safety hazard.  Parental supervision is important in the prevention of unintentional child injuries.

Have a safe holiday season!

Gymnastics provide opportunities for children to experience growth in  fine and gross motor skills, agility and coordination. Our grandaughter has had such fun already and learned much in her young and limited experience in their local gym.

-But accidents do occur. Consider some basic safety information before enrolling your children in a gymnastics program. Does the gym have adequate staff and supervision for spotting and monitoring? Is equipment properly arranged and maintained? Is there adequate secured matting and floor padding? Is there a plan in the event of a medical emergency? 

Gymnastics injuries have been studied  by researchers at the Center for Injury Research and Policy. Findings suggest gymnastics is overlooked in terms of potential for injury.  Nearly 27,000 injuries are reported each year – concussions, fractures, sprains.

Parents  don’t typically think of gymnastics as a dangerous sport, but rather an activity.  Do your homework first. Then choose the gym that is right for your child!