So few people ever think about kids fire safety, yet burn injuries are
amongst the most common of household hazards.
I for one, hate seeing and dealing with a burn injury, particularly by
fire. As a medic, I have seen some truly horrific sights. It
is not nice!
A burn injury can be caused by hot water and other liquids, as well as
electrical shock, and fire or chemicals i.e acids and alkalies.
Kids fire safety is something that we should take note of on a daily
basis, no matter where we are. You may well have taken all
the precautions necessary in your own home but what about the homes of
friends and other family members. Have they considered home
fire safety?
Don’t forget when it comes to burn injuries it is not only fire that
you need to consider.
My baby brother used a coat hanger to hook a pot of boiling milk on the
stove down onto himself. It was many weeks before his burn
injury healed, and he was confined to bed for most of that time.
Fortunately our neighbor was a Pharmacist and he was able to deal with
the damage. He came around twice a day to provide and change the
child’s dressings.
As a young married women with children, I never really thought much
about home fire safety and the possible hazards of heaters.
We had a two bar heater in the bedroom and one night, I woke up
coughing and choking to find that our bedroom was alight.
Our dog had somehow knocked the heater over, face down onto the
carpeted wood floor. I can only thank the good Lord that the
fire was not between us and the bedroom door and that it was still
relatively small. While my husband worked to put the fire
out, I raced to the children and got them out of the house.
Even young teenagers can be quite careless about fire safety. My 14
year old son went into the bathroom to clean paint off of himself with
petrol. Both the window and door were closed. He decided to sneak a
cigarette, not realizing that petrol fumes are flammable. There was an
explosion and his chest, neck and face were burnt quite badly.
Fortunately, I had taught my children First Aid (In fact I had
virtually hammered it into them). So, despite his shock, he immediately
jumped into the shower and turned the cold water on, after which he
used the special burn injury treatment that I kept both in the bathroom
and in the kitchen. Fortunately, He has no scars from his burns today.
Kids Fire Safety Tips
- If at all possible have smoke alarms installed in every
room. Test them on a monthly basis and change the batteries every 6
months. - Ensure that your burglar-guards can be unlatched from
inside the house. Many a person, adult and child alike, have
died of a burn injury or smoke inhalation because they were unable to
escape from their burning homes. - Work out an escape plan. Keep a ladder available on the
upper floor if you live in a double storied home. - Keep a fire extinguisher in the kitchen as well as upstairs
and ensure that you know how to use them. - Keep anything flammable i.e. matches candles, chemicals out
of the reach of children. - Educate your children about burn safety and what can cause
burns. Show then pictures of a burn injury patient. - Use the plates at the back of the stove, before using the
front ones. - Make sure that pot handles are turned towards the back of
the stove when cooking. - Keep hot foods and liquids away from table and counter
edges. - Do not overload electrical sockets or run electrical wires
under rugs or carpets. - Put child-safety covers on all electrical outlets.
- If extension cords are damaged or appliances have old and
frayed cords, get rid of them. They are fire hazards. - Shorten or bind excess cord from lamps and other electrical
equipment. If necessary purchase a cord cover. Babies love to chew on
everything in sight. - Tack down the cords from your surround sound system so that
your little crawling imp can’t get at them. - Make sure that TV’s, Stereos and computer are positioned so
that inquisitive hands cannot get at the cords or the back of the
equipment. - Make sure that Christmas lights have no exposed or broken
wiring and that they are properly insulated. In fact, make sure that
the tree is lifted above the reach of small people and that all wires
and decorations are safe from their little hands. - Check electronic equipment and toys regularly. If anything
gives off sparks, feels hot or has a strange smell, get rid of it, or
have it repaired immediately. - Ensure that bedside lamps and night-lights cannot touch
fabric from bedspreads and curtains. - Heaters should be kept at least 1M away from anything
flammable. - Small stoves and heaters should be placed in such a way
that they cannot be knocked over. - Keep large dogs and pets away from heaters.
- Screen your fireplace and make sure that the chimney is
cleaned regularly. - Don’t forget to check that the tumble dryer vent is cleaned
of lint on a regular basis, otherwise it could overheat. - Keep fireworks and sparklers away from your family. Do Not
have them in your home!
It might be fun if you used “kids fire safety” as a safety topic in
your home for a week. Get the kids to make up posters and
write stories. If they are old enough, they could trawl the house
looking for fire hazards – the one who finds the most receives a prize.
Get them to make up gifts for burn injured children at your local burns
unit. Visit a fire-station. Arrange a talk at school. Don’t just think
about kids fire safety – Do something about it!
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