It seems easy, right? Well, it seems easy until you become a parent. Then, holy crap! Everything is dangerous. The road! Riding bikes! Poisonous cleaners! Expired food! Poorly installed car seats! Was my crib just recalled?
Don't even get me started on bisphenol A in plastics.
Then your kids get older and there sports and skateboards and boyfriends and driving, and yeah, safety is complicated.
Luckily, there is help. Safe Kids U.S.A. is an amazing resource for parents.
Safe Kids USA is a nationwide network of organizations working to prevent unintentional childhood injury, the leading cause of death and disability for children ages 1 to 14. [They] educate families, provide safety devices to families in need and advocate for better laws to help keep children safe, healthy and out of the emergency room.
Safe Kids USA members:
- Teach families about child injury risks and prevention
- Encourage and conduct research on leading injury risks
- Evaluate solutions for injury risks
- Work to pass and improve child safety laws and regulations
- Provide lifesaving devices such as child safety seats, helmets and smoke alarms to families who need them
- Promote corporate leadership in child safety through effective and sustainable partnerships
The organization is wonderful. The website has safety tips by region, age or risk area. There are sections for parents, educators, media and safety professionals.
This is some good stuff, people. This group is very serious about injury prevention.
Ben Franklin knew what he was he was talking about when he said "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."
As a sports writer and a parent of two t-ball players, I am a huge stickler for sports safety. I have written about far too many concussions to be lax about sports safety. I know a lot of parents just freak out and won't let their child near a football field or a hockey rink, but we know tricks that can help children be safe - yes, even playing football.
Hydration - this is no joke, especially in warmer months. Proper hydration keeps a lot of other body functions working properly.
Preparation / Concussion Awareness - as with anything being knowledgeable and ready for a situation gives a person a distinct advantage if an emergency arises. Teach the children what to look out for and they will be ready.
Acute and Overuse Injury Prevention - Tennis elbow, tendinitis, shin splints - we know these things exist. Now how do we stop them from happening? We have ways.
If you want to know more, please join Safe Kids U.S.A for a livestreaming webcast on their facebook page May 2, at 12 PM EST. The chat will be hosted by some really smart doctors and Steve Young. Yes, that Steve Young.
STEVE YOUNG!
Oh yeah, former Bucs in all caps here.
What, you want to know about the doctors too?
Mr. Young will be joined by Dr. Angela Mickalide, CHES, Director of Research and Programs, Safe Kids Worldwide, Dr. Douglas Casa, Director of Athletic Training Education, University of Connecticut and Dr. Gerard Gioia, Chief, Division of Pediatric Neuropsychology and Safe Concussion Outcome, Recovery & Education (SCORE) Program at Children's National Medical Center.
Not too shabby.
Again, May 2, noon EST, Steve Young, Safe Kids U.S.A. Facebook Page.
Any questions?
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This post was written as part of a compensated partnership with Safe Kids U.S.A.
1 comment:
Thank you so much for posting this; safe kids u.s.a was honestly a HUGE help me for me when i had my first born child. one of the things i read on a forum was that there a lot of kids that get hurt (and killed) yearly from things tipping over on them. my step sister had her small child in an accident when a small bookcase fell on top of her one day (kids pull everything, take my word for it). needless to say i bought a couple of furniture straps for the bigger items in my home. again thanks so much for posting :)
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