Focus on Safety Prevention for Youth

Although most people in the United States die of chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer, we need to address the fact that the leading cause of death for children is unintentional injuries.  Being aware is the first step in preventing injuries.

Road Traffic Safety

Every hour, nearly 150 children between ages 0 and 19 are treated in emergency departments for injuries sustained in motor vehicle crashes. More children ages 5 to 19 die from crash-related injuries than from any other type of injury.

Thankfully, parents and caregivers can play a key role in protecting the children they love from road traffic injuries. Using the correct car seat or booster seat can be a lifesaver:  make sure your child is always buckled in an age- and size- appropriate car seat or booster seat.

Key Prevention Tips

Install and Use Car & Booster Seats Properly
Install and use car seats and booster seats according to the seat’s owner’s manual or get help installing them from a certified Child Passenger Safety Technician.

Seat Children in the Back Seat
Buckle all children aged 12 and under in the back seat.

Don’t Seat Children in Front of an Airbag
Airbags can kill young children riding in the front seat. Never place a rear-facing car seat in front of an air bag.

Seat Children in the Middle of the Back Seat
Buckle children in the middle of the back seat when possible, because it is the safest spot in the vehicle.14

Use Proper Restraints Every Trip
Buckle children in car seats, booster seats, or seat belts on every trip, no matter how short.

Parents and Caregivers: Always Wear a Seat Belt
Set a good example by always using a seat belt themselves.

Additional Tips

Sign a Driving Agreement.
If you’re a parent of a teen who is learning to drive, sign a Parent-Teen Driving Agreement with your teen to limit risky driving situations, such as having multiple teen passengers and driving at night.

Helmets can Help.
Children should wear an appropriate helmet any time they are on a motorcycle, bicycle, skateboard, scooter, or skates.

Poisoning Prevention

Every day, over 300 children in the United States ages 0 to 19 are treated in an emergency department, and two children die, as a result of being poisoned. It’s not just chemicals in your home marked with clear warning labels that can be dangerous to children.

Everyday items in your home, such as household cleaners and medicines, can be poisonous to children as well. Medication dosing mistakes and unsupervised ingestions are common ways that children are poisoned. Active, curious children will often investigate—and sometimes try to eat or drink—anything that they can get into.  Remember that children and pets can be poisoned by the liquids used for vaping.

Thankfully, there are ways you can help poison-proof your home and protect the children you love.

Key Prevention Tips

Lock them up and away.
Keep medicines and toxic products, such cleaning solutions and detergent pods, in their original packaging where children can’t see or get them.

Know the number.
Put the nationwide poison control center phone number, 1-800-222-1222, on or near every telephone in your home and program it into your cell phone. Call the poison control center if you think a child has been poisoned but they are awake and alert; they can be reached 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Call 911 if you have a poison emergency and your child has collapsed or is not breathing.

Read the label.
Follow label directions carefully and read all warnings when giving medicines to children.

Don’t keep it if you don’t need it.
Safely dispose of unused, unneeded, or expired prescription drugs and over the counter drugs, vitamins, and supplements. To dispose of medicines, mix them with coffee grounds or kitty litter and throw them away. You can also turn them in at a local take-back program or during National Drug Take-Back events.

Sports Safety

Taking part in sports and recreation activities is an important part of a healthy, physically active lifestyle for kids. But injuries can, and do, occur. More than 2.6 million children 0-19 years old are treated in the emergency department each year for sports and recreation-related injuries.

Thankfully, there are steps that parents can take to help make sure kids stay safe on the field, the court, or wherever they play or participate in sports and recreation activities.

Key Prevention Tips

Gear up. When children are active in sports and recreation, make sure they use the right protective gear for their activity, such as helmets, wrist guards, knee or elbow pads.

Use the right stuff. Be sure that sports protective equipment is in good condition, fits appropriately and is worn correctly all the time—for example, avoid missing or broken buckles or compressed or worn padding. Poorly fitting equipment may be uncomfortable and may not offer the best protection.

Get an action plan in place. Be sure your child’s sports program or school has an action plan that includes information on how to teach athletes ways to lower their chances of getting a concussion and other injuries.

Pay attention to temperature. Allow time for child athletes to gradually adjust to hot or humid environments to prevent heat-related injuries or illness. Parents and coaches should pay close attention to make sure that players are hydrated and appropriately dressed.

Be a good model. Communicate positive safety messages and serve as a model of safe behavior, including wearing a helmet and following the rules.

Drowning Prevention

We all want to keep our children safe and secure and help them live to their full potential. Knowing how to prevent leading causes of child injury, like drowning, is a step toward this goal.

When most of us are enjoying time at the pool or beach, injuries aren’t the first thing on our minds. Yet, drownings are a leading cause of injury death for young children ages 1 to 14, and three children die every day as a result of drowning. In fact, drowning kills more children 1-4 than anything else except birth defects.

Thankfully, parents can play a key role in protecting the children they love from drowning.

Key Prevention Tips

Learn life-saving skills.

Everyone should know the basics of swimming (floating, moving through the water) and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

Fence it off.

Install a four–sided isolation fence, with self–closing and self–latching gates, around backyard swimming pools. This can help keep children away from the area when they aren’t supposed to be swimming. Pool fences should completely separate the house and play area from the pool.

Make life jackets a must.

Make sure kids wear life jackets in and around natural bodies of water, such as lakes or the ocean, even if they know how to swim. Life jackets can be used in and around pools for weaker swimmers too.

Be on the lookout.

When kids are in or near water (including bathtubs), closely supervise them at all times. Because drowning happens quickly and quietly, adults watching kids in or near water should avoid distracting activities like playing cards, reading books, talking on the phone, and using alcohol or drugs.

Gun Safety

Firearms and Children

Parents, professionals and many others are concerned about the large numbers of children and adolescents killed by firearms. In order to prevent further deaths, it is important to remember the following:

1) We cannot gun-proof our children and adolescents. Children are playful and active. Adolescents are curious and impulsive. Such healthy traits when mixed with guns can cause death.

2) The best way to protect children against gun violence is to remove all guns from the home. If guns are kept in the home, there will always be danger.

The following actions are crucial to lessen the dangers:

• Store all firearms unloaded and uncocked in a securely locked container. Only the parents should know where the container is located
• Store the guns and ammunition in separate locked locations
• For a revolver, place a padlock around the top strap of the weapon to prevent the cylinder from closing, or use a trigger lock; for a pistol, use a trigger lock
• When handling or cleaning a gun, never leave it unattended, even for a moment; it should be in your view at all times

Even if parents don’t own a gun, they should check with parents at other places where their children play, to make sure safety precautions are followed. Research shows that many accidental shootings occur in the homes of friends and relatives. The tragedies take place most often when children are left unsupervised.

When youngsters use alcohol and also have a gun available, the risk for violence rapidly increases. Research reveals that youth suicide victims who used firearms were about five times more likely to have been drinking than those who used other means. In gun-associated murders among family members, almost 90% of the offenders and victims had used alcohol or drugs before the killings.

The average American child witnesses many acts of violence each day on TV, in movies, and through computer games. Most involve firearms. Children often imitate what they see, and are more aggressive after extensive viewing of violence on TV, in movies and videos, and/or playing violent video games. Parents should help protect their children from the effects of gun violence portrayed in the media. For example, they can watch TV, movies, and videos with children; restrict violent video games; limit TV; and disapprove of the violent episodes in front of the children, stressing the belief that such behavior is not the best way to resolve a problem.

Children and adolescents with emotional or behavioral problems may be more likely than other children to use guns, against themselves or others. Parents who are concerned that their child is too aggressive or might have an emotional disorder may wish to seek an evaluation by a child and adolescent psychiatrist or other qualified mental health professional.

Report Safety Issues to the FDA

The FDA has regulatory authority over tobacco products—including e-cigarettes and other vaping products, cigars, cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, hookah and pipe tobacco—as part of its mission to improve public health.

Know that the FDA has sent warning letters to companies that mislead kids with e-liquids that imitate childrens’ food products (such as juice boxes, candy or cookies. These warning letters advised companies that these misleading products are prohibited.

The FDA also is pursuing other steps to protect youth from the dangers of tobacco products, such as continuing to enforce regulations addressing youth access and exploring measures to make tobacco products less toxic, appealing, and addictive.

If you experience any unexpected health problems with an e-liquid or any other tobacco product, please report the issue to the FDA using the Safety Reporting Portal.