Child Safety Week

This week is Child Safety Week organised by the Child Accident Prevention Trust to support families in ensuring they can do everything possible to keep children safe inside and outside the home.

The theme for the week is Safety Made Simple and further details are available from their website at https://capt.org.uk/child-safety-week/. The child Accident Prevention Trust shows how every day objects can be dangerous for little hands, such as:

Blind cords

Around two children every year die after becoming entangled with the looped cord from a window blind. It can take just 15 seconds for a toddler to lose consciousness and they can die in just two to three minutes.

Button batteries

The thin button batteries that look like a five pence piece, if swallowed by a child can cause internal bleeding and even death. Most button batteries would pass through the body without problem but if it gets stuck in the food pipe, energy from the battery reacts with saliva to create caustic soda. The advice is always to seek help as soon as you are aware.

Dogs

Safety around dogs is key, even when it’s the well-loved family pets, in fact, most bites occur with family pets and last year, over 1,700 children were admitted to hospital with dog bites.

Road safety

Young people are often distracted when out and about, so it’s important to make sure they are keeping themselves safe when outside. There is lots of great information on the Child Accident Prevention Trust website.