Children’s Hospital of Michigan wants to help keep kids out of the emergency room this summer.
On Monday (June 26), the head of the ER shared her best advice to help protect children from the top summertime injuries.
“Between the ages of one to four, the most common cause of death is drowning,” said Children’s Hospital of Michigan Dr. Kelly Levasseur.
Levasseur said it’s critical to always have someone responsible for watching your child if they are in or around water.
“It doesn’t take very long for a child to drown, just a minute or two, and we can’t get those minutes back,” Levasseur said.
She cautions pool floats are not lifesaving devices.
“This is not what is going to save them from drowning,” Levasseur said. “So if your child has this and they don’t know how to swim very well, please make sure that they still have a life jacket.”
Injuries from bikes and motorized scooters are also common.
“They are coming in with arm fractures and leg fractures, and they’ve hit their head,” Levasseur said. “They’re coming in with concussions. So we just want to make sure that you’re having that helmet on.”
Burns are another top concern. And use sparklers with close supervision. And shoes.
“Try to keep a safe distance between kids because we do see a lot of kids that come in and they’ve been burned by the sparkler on their arm or on their feet because some of those little pieces drop on their feet,” Levasseur said.
Frequent breaks are essential if kids are exercising or playing sports in the heat.
“They get really involved in what they’re doing, and they don’t notice the signs of when to stop,” Levasseur said. “So I’m going to go back to supervision and make sure that you have a parent out there or a coach who’s watching the kids and actually making them stop and get something to drink and cool off.”
Levasseur also cautions everyone to put out campfires with lots of water, not just sand.
They’ve seen children suffer burns to their feet after stepping on a fire a full day after it was doused with sand.
