Volume 20 Issue 43.                                                                                    Summer 2022

Thank you for being part of the Safety Source family!

Summer Safety Edition

 Our May monthly newsletter highlights National Bike Safety Month, Car seats in Hot Cars, Memorial Day Safety, National Water Safety Month, Teen Driver Summer Safety, and Trauma Awareness Month. There are interactive tools for your children to learn the importance of water safety and boating safety, as well as a quiz for you and your child to test your knowledge about grill safety.

 There is also a recipe for a tasty treat! We hope this will provide a fun way to learn about important safety topics together as a family. Let us know if we can be a resource to you in any way!

May is National Trauma Awareness Month. In 1988, Ronald Reagan recognized the need for trauma awareness and established May as the month for us to dedicate our time and resources to increasing education and prevention activities.

Since then, the American Trauma Society has worked with other trauma organizations, some of which have included CDC, NHTSA, EMSC, Safe Kids, National Safety Council, MADD, and the Society of Trauma Nurses (STN) to spread the message of injury prevention in their communities. Each year, a new focus is designated which relates to injury prevention and raising trauma awareness. Over the years the following have been some of the campaign themes of National Trauma Awareness Month: Drunk Driving, Teen Driving, Sports Injuries, (General) Safety at Home, Water Safety, Head Injuries/Helmet Safety.

This year with a documented rise in violence throughout our nation, the theme “Safe Surroundings: Preventing Violence and Promoting Peace Community by Community” is both timely and appropriate for our trauma centers to promote. Injury and Violence Prevention professionals from throughout nation have been responding to the rise in intentional injuries and deaths. Raising the awareness and supporting violence prevention efforts is more important now than ever. This year’s committee chose four areas to focus prevention efforts on including:

• Intimate Partner Violence
• Firearm Injury Prevention
• Mental Health Awareness
• Community Violence Intervention

Join us in spreading the message of safety in your communities. Reach out to us for any resource you may need.

For most families, Memorial Day marks the beginning of summer fun like barbeques, boating, lakes or beach trips, and ATV riding. With all those fun, summer activities, comes great risks for injuries. Did you know that on average, 9,600 home fires are started by outdoor grilling? Here’s what you can do to help prevent grilling related injuries (1):

• Only grill outside, at least 3ft away from your home, and establish a “grilling zone” that extends 3ft from your grill all the way around. Teach children that they shouldn’t be closer to the grill than that.
• Once the grill is lit or the flames have started, don’t walk away from your grilling station. Always keep your eye on it.
• Clean your grill. Remove grease and clean the grates prior to use.
• Use long handled tools and keep all lighters and fire-starters securely out of reach of children.
• When using charcoal, remember that once the coals have cooled, place them in a metal can. Never throw them away.

BBQs aren’t the only thing most families look forward to on Memorial Day. Most gather with family and friends to enjoy the water. Whether that’s a pool, lake, or ocean, water fun comes with inherent risks for children. Can your children swim? If you’re a family that likes to enjoy the water, it’s a good idea to make sure your children learn to swim from either you or structured swim lessons before the summer water season begins. Consider these tips if your family plans to enjoy the water:

• Assign a water watcher, someone whose only focus is to keep their eyes on the children in the water and rotate out the water watcher so that no one loses focus.
• Use U.S. Coast Guard approved life jackets correctly sized to your child any time you are on a boat. Use this tool to help determine what life jacket to use.
• Teach your children water survival techniques, especially if you plan to be near open water.
• Learn CPR and basic water rescue skills.
• Always use designated swimming areas and lifeguard supervised swim zones when possible.

The water isn’t the only way to enjoy the great outdoors with your family. In Tennessee especially, families like to get outside on ATVs as the weather warms up. Unfortunately, ATV-related injuries are a leading cause of trauma admissions at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. While we fully support the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American College of Surgeons (ACS) recommendation that children age 16 and under should not ride on ATVs due to the high risk of serious injury, if parents plan to allow their children to ride ATVs despite the known risks, these safety measures are strongly encouraged:

• Any child younger than 16 should not ride on adult-sized ATVs. They are twice as likely to be injured on an adult ATV compared to children who ride on youth-sized ATVs. Refer to manufacturer’s recommendations for the appropriate size ATV.
• Always wear protective gear, especially a helmet, when riding ATVs. Head injuries are by far the leading cause of death and disability related to ATV crashes. Helmets reduce head injuries by 85 percent. Wear a motorcycle or motorized sports helmet and make sure it is certified by the U.S. Department of Transportation or the Snell Memorial Foundation.
• ATVs are meant of a single rider. They are not meant to carry passengers.
• ATVs are not meant to be driven on asphalt or concrete roads. Traveling on the road decreases stability of the ATV.
• Do not drive an ATV while under the influence of any alcohol or drugs.
• Take a hands-on ATV safety course, like the one offered through the ATV Safety Institute here

To learn more about ATV safety visit our website here.

This Memorial Day, take a few minutes to educate yourself and your family on ways to stay safe while you enjoy the first big holiday of the summer. Take the necessary precautions and make sure that your family keeps safety in mind as you dive into summer fun! For more safety tips visit our website here.

Sources:

1. https://www.safekids.org/blog/6-grilling-tips-keep-your-kids-safe
2. https://www.safekids.org/tip/boating-safety-tips
3. https://atvsafety.org/

It is beginning to look a lot like summer around this time of year. Many are prepared to head to the beach, pool, or lake, especially for this upcoming Memorial Day Weekend. It is important to know some water safety tips before heading out for a day on the water. In the US, an average of 3500- 4000 people drown per year [1]. That is an average of 10 drownings per day. Drowning is also the leading cause of unintentional injury related death for children ages 1-4 [1]. Drowning happens very quickly and quietly. For children younger than 5, 87% of drowning fatalities happen in pools or hot tubs [2]. The scary part is most of these drownings take place in pools owned by family, friends, or relatives

Follow the tips below to help keep your loved ones safe in the pool this summer [1]:

• Teach your child to swim - It can reduce the risk of drowning by 88% for children ages 1-4
• Use a four-sided isolation fence for backyard swimming pools with latching gates. Fences should separate the house and play area from pool
• Closely supervise children around any water, even bathtubs. Bathtubs are second leading location where young children drown [2].
• Avoid distractions when supervising children such as reading, talking, or using a cell phone.
• Enforce the following rules with your children [2]
  • Only swim when supervised by a water watcher
  • To ask for permission to go near water
  • Stay away from drains and openings that cause suction.
• Install a secondary barrier such as lockable covers or alarms/locks on doors that have direct access to the pool area that children cannot reach
• Know CPR and how to call for emergency help
• Have your children use US Coast Guard approved floatation devices like a life jacket

National Safe Boating Week is May 21^st-27^th. Chances are if you are going to be around water you may also be on a boat. There are additional safety measures that need to take place while being on a boat. In 2020, 77% of deaths occurred on boats where the operator had no boating safety instruction [3].

Follow these safety tips when out on a boat this summer [4]:

• Wear a US Coast Guard approved life jacket. All boats are to be equipped with one wearable personal flotation device for each person on board.
• Do not drink and drive a boat
• Check the weather forecasts
• Learn about carbon monoxide to avoid poisoning.
• File a float plan
• Take a boating safety course
• Wear your US Coast Guard approved life jackets, in or around bodies of water, even if you know how to swim. Even wear it in the pool.

One of the single most important things you can do is wear a US Coast Guard approved life jacket when around water or on a boat. Of the boating fatalities that occurred in 2020 75% were drownings. Of those, 86% were reported not wearing a life jacket [3]. If, you unintentionally fall in the water, A US Coast Guard approved life jacket will help keep your head above water allowing you to breathe and make it easier for you to be rescued once help arrives.

Summer means many children will be out at the pool, lake, or ocean. Take extra steps to keep your children safe this summer. For more safety tips visit our website here

[1] https://www.stopdrowningnow.org/drowning-statistics/

[2] https://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/types-of-emergencies/water-safety/drowning-prevention-and-facts.html

[3] https://safeboatingcampaign.com/get-the-facts/

[4] https://www.nsc.org/home-safety/tools-resources/seasonal-safety/summer/boating

Did you know that a car can heat up 19 degrees in only 10 minutes? Cracking your windows doesn’t help (1). As temperatures begin to rise here in Tennessee, we want parents and caregivers to be mindful of how dangerous hot cars can be. On average, every 10 days a child dies of heatstroke after being left alone in a hot car. Nearly half of those deaths occur when a child is forgotten (1).

Here’s what we suggest:

• ACT (1)
  • Avoid heatstroke-related injury and death by never leaving a child alone in a car, not even for a minute and keep your car locked to avoid the risk of children getting inside the car on their own.
  • Create reminders. Put something in the front seat like a stuffed animal or other memento in your child’s car seat and move it to the front seat as a visual reminder that your child is in the back seat. Or put something that you must have when you arrive like a briefcase, phone, or badge for work in the back seat with your child, so you don’t forget.
  • Take action. If you see a child alone in a car, call 911. Emergency personnel are trained to respond to these situations. They want you to seek help for that child immediately.
• Don’t leave your keys where they are accessible to children, and teach children that cars, and especially trunks are not safe places to play or hide (2).
• Look before you lock. Make it a habit to check your front and back seats each time you leave your car to make sure you don’t forget anything including your child (2).
• Be overly cautious when there is a change in your routine (2). If someone else must transport your child, call them to ensure they got there and got your child into the location safely. Have your childcare provider contact you if your child is more than 10 minutes late to ask where your child is. Put precautions in place so that there are safeguards if a change in routine makes you or another caregiver more forgetful than usual.

Hot car deaths are the most dangerous risk to the children in cars with the rising temperatures, but they aren’t the only risk.

Please consider that your child’s car seat is in your car getting hotter by the minute while it is parked. Both plastic and metal pieces on the car seat are likely to become very hot to the touch and have the potential to burn your child if they become hot enough. Most of the time car window tint won’t do the trick either. To keep your child’s seat belt or car seat from getting hot enough to injury them follow these tips:

• Park in the shade when possible.
• Try to keep the car seat out of direct sunlight when parked.
• Cover the seat and buckles with a towel or blanket.
• Use foldable or retractable car shades that come off and store securely away when you drive to block sunlight when you are parked.

What we do not recommend are suction cup window clings, clip on shades or fans because these objects become projectiles in a crash. Remember that whatever you use to cover your car seat or block your windows from direct sunlight when you park, should come down and be securely put away while you drive.

Warmer weather means summer fun for most families. Take extra steps to make sure that the heat doesn’t mean injury or death for your child when it comes to your car. For more car seat safety tips, visit https://www.vumc.org/injuryprevention/car-seat-tips.

Sources:

1. https://www.safekids.org/heatstroke
2. https://www.healthychildren.org/English/safety-prevention/on-the-go/Pages/Prevent-Child-Deaths-in-Hot-Cars.aspx

Did you know that in 2019 there were 1,089 bicyclist deaths? 712 of those deaths involved motor vehicles (1). Riding a bicycle is a great way to exercise and get outside with your children and family, and it can be a great way to get around if your destination isn’t too far. However, it is important that families take precautions to stay safe while on a bicycle. There are about 80 million bicyclists sharing the road with motorized vehicles, so it’s critical that both bicyclists and drivers keep safety in mind (1).

If you or your children are riding on the road, here are some tips to follow (1):

• Make sure your bikes are in good working order.
• Plan to be seen. Wear reflectors on yourself, your bike, or both. Wear bright colors.
• Wear a properly fitted helmet.
• Learn and know the rules of the ride. Follow traffic laws and be sure to go with the direction of traffic while riding a bike.
• When possible, have children ride on the sidewalk instead (2).
• Avoid riding at night (3).
• Look for road hazards like glass, gravel, dogs, and especially potholes (3).
• Stay alert. Continuously check your surroundings (3).
• Be predictable. Ride in a straight line. Do not weave in and out of traffic (3).

If you are a driver, here are some tips when driving near/around bicyclists (4):

• Check twice before passing or turning right.
• Share the road. Realize the bicyclist is in the vulnerable position.
• Keep an eye out for bicyclists. They can be difficult to see.
• Don’t drive distracted. Stay focused on the road and continuously check for upcoming hazards.

Remember, if you are on a bike, you must take every precaution to make sure you are visible, predictable, alert, and protected. Wear your helmet and any other safety padding, and make sure your clothing and bicycle are easy to spot by drivers. If you are a driver, avoid distractions and keep an eye out for bicyclists. When you see someone riding a bike, be sure to share the road. Give them room, and double check before passing. Talk to your children about using the sidewalk when possible. If they have to be on the road, be sure they know the rules of the road and try to stay in groups when possible. For more safety tips visit https://www.vumc.org/injuryprevention/safety-topics.

Sources:

1. https://www.nsc.org/home-safety/tools-resources/seasonal-safety/summer/bicycles
2. https://www.safekids.org/bike
3. https://one.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/pedbimot/bike/kidsandbikesafetyweb/index.htm
4. https://www.defensivedriving.com/blog/share-the-road-how-to-drive-safely-around-bicycles/

Memorial Day weekend marks the start of summer for many, especially teenagers. Sadly, summer can also be the deadliest time for teenagers. The days of Memorial Day until Labor Day are also referred to as the “100 Deadliest Days of Summer” for teenagers. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teens. An average of 260 teens are killed in car crashes each month during the summer [1]. Summer creates more free time for teenagers since they are out of school and more free time means more time on the road with friends with less supervision.

It is important for parents to sit down with their teen this summer and go over the safety rules of the road and how crucial it is to follow those rules. The following are some tips to use to help keep your teen safe this summer.

• Always wear a seat belt. Let your teen know that this is not a choice. Wearing a seat belt in a vehicle is required. Many teens think they do not need seat belts and do not understand that wearing a seat belt is the smartest decision for their safety. In 2019 45% of teen drivers who died were unbuckled. Even worse, when the teen driver involved in the fatal crash was unbuckled, 9 out of 10 of the passengers who died were also unbuckled [2] It is important for your teen to also be a good role model to their peers and speak up.
• Do not speed. Speeding is an issue for teens and studies show that with confidence teens’ speeding behavior increases over time. Parents should monitor teens closely and be a role model for good driving behavior. Hold off on buying your teen a car of their own. Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) studies show that teens with new driver license are less likely to speed in the family vehicle versus their own. Avoiding high performance vehicles is also beneficial [2].
• Do not drive under the influence. Underage drinking is illegal and drunk driving laws are strictly enforced. Teens are more likely to be killed in alcohol related crash [2]. Parents should speak their teen and discuss the consequences of drinking or drug use while driving. Parents also need to encourage their teen to call if they are ever in a situation where they should not get behind the wheel [1].
• Avoid distractions. Limit the number of passengers in the vehicle. Remind your teen to not be on the phone or even eat while driving. Distracted driving claimed 3,142 lives in 2020 [2]. Driving always requires your full attention.
• Do not text and drive. This is considered the most dangerous type of distraction because it combines visual, manual, and cognitive distraction. Teach your teen to always be focused on one task which is safe driving. Always practice the same behavior in front of your teen as well. Do not be on your phone. [2]
• Do not drive drowsy. In 2019 drowsy driving claimed 697 lives [2]. Drowsy driving does not have to mean you are asleep. Being drowsy itself can affect your alertness, reaction time, and attention. Teens are very busy with everything they do and tend to stay up late cutting back on their sleep. Parents should make sure their teens are getting adequate sleep. Although it is summer parents can set a curfew cutting back on nighttime driving and there are laws already in place with curfew driving times for teens.

It is important for parents to monitor and educate their teens on driving safely this summer as well as be role models for safe driving behavior. For more teen driver safety tips please visit our website here

[1] https://wesavelives.org/100-deadliest-days-of-summer/

[2] https://www.nhtsa.gov/road-safety/teen-driving

[3] https://www.longisland.com/news/11-22-21/long-island-accident-lawyers-explain-the-importance-of-seat-belt-usage-for-teen-drivers.html