Tips to prevent your child from falling

Always ensure that your kids wear helmets during activities like cycling or skateboarding in order to protect their vulnerable heads should they take a tumble. — TNS

Many injuries, and even deaths, in children can occur because of falls.

Every year in the United States, roughly 2.2 million children under the age of 15 are seen in emergency departments for injuries related to falls.

“You can see things as simple as little cuts and bumps and bruises, to broken bones to big head injuries,” says Mayo Clinic emergency medicine physician Dr Neha Raukar.

About half of those injuries occur in toddlers, i.e kids aged four and under.

“If you think about kids and how they’re exploring their environment, it’s good to just be aware of what they’re doing,” she says.

While falls can occur anywhere, windows and stairs are common causes of fall-related injury and death in young children.

To keep your child safe, install window guards and stops.

Keep windows locked and closed when not in use.

And for those kids that like to climb, move furniture away from the windows, and use approved safety gates at the top and bottom of stairs.

As kids get older, injuries from falls outside the home, such as from bicycling or on the playground, are more likely to occur.

Falls on the playground account for almost 200,000 trips to the emergency room in the US each year.

“When they’re outside playing on the playground, make sure that you have a nice soft surface for them to land off the monkey bars or off of a jungle gym,” says Dr Raukar.

And when biking, skateboarding or other fun stuff, protect the head by wearing a helmet. – By Jason Howland/Mayo Clinic News Network/Tribune News Service