SUMMER SAFETY

The New Jersey Department of Children and Families has issued a great set of safety tips for kids and families:

•      The temperature inside a car can get dangerously hot, even in moderate weather with the windows slightly down. Kids can suffer from heat stroke, causing serious injuries and       sometimes death.  Simply leaving the air conditioner on doesn’t make your child safe.  A child could put the car in drive, get caught in a closing power window, or be
        abducted.
•       Never leave a child unattended in a car. Not even for a minute.
•       Always lock your car and secure the keys, so that your kids can’t get to them.
•       Warn your children about playing in and around cars.
•       Install a trunk release mechanism, so that kids can’t get trapped inside the trunk.
•       Get your kids out of the car first, and then worry about unloading the groceries and items out of the car. 
•       Drowning is one of the leading causes of child deaths each year.  Here are some tips to help keep kids safe around water:
•       Never leave a child unattended around water.  Children are drawn to it, and very young children can drown in just an inch of water.
•       Empty all buckets, pails, and bathtubs completely after each use. Do not leave them full and unattended.
•       Always have an adult supervising young swimmers.
•       Don’t mix alcohol and supervision of children.
•       Be sure that the adult watching your child knows how to swim, get emergency help and perform CPR.
•       Keep rescue equipment (such as life preserver or shepherd’s hook) and a telephone near the pool.
•       Plastic or blow-up wading pools should always be drained and stored in an upright position after each use. 
•       Enclose pools completely with a self-locking, self-closing fence.  Do not leave furniture around that children can use to climb over the fence.
•       Teach your child to swim at an early age.
•       Flotation devices or inflatable toys are not substitutes for supervision, even if a child can swim. 
•       The New Jersey Department of Children and Families has also provided additional summer safety reminders:
•       Have kids wear a properly fitted helmet when riding a bike, a skateboard, scooter, or rollerblading.
•       Keep a shock-absorbing surface under and around home playground equipment.  Always supervise kids on play equipment. 
•       Use caution with outdoor grills when children are present.
•       Install window guards to prevent children from falling out of windows.  Install in any room where children spend time. 
        For information about requirements for child safety window guards, please call the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs at 609-633-6225. 
•       Never depend on screens to keep children from falling out of windows.
•       Limit sun exposure for kids and infants.
•       Apply sunscreen, even on cloudy days, and reapply every two hours, or after swimming. 

To the list provided by the state, I would add to drive with caution this summer.  Children are playing outside and could run out into the street.  Watch out for them and be prepared to stop.

2-1-1 is New Jersey’s community resource to make it easier to locate where to go for help, how to apply, and get information.  Call 2-1-1 or visit www.NJ211.org.