April 27th, 2020: Home Playground Safety

This week is National Playground Safety Week! Although many states have closed public playgrounds to stop the spread of COVID-19, some families have playground equipment in their own backyards. Unlike public playgrounds, though, these backyard fun zones aren’t inspected and maintained by professionals, so parents and caregivers should carefully check their equipment for safety before the kids start to play.

Resources on Playground Safety

Home Playground Safety Checklist – U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

Outdoor Home Playground Safety Handbook – U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

Playground Safety (English) – healthychildren.org
Playground Safety (Español) – healthychildren.org

Playground Safety – Injury-Free Coalition for Kids

Safety Tips for Home Playground Equipment (English) – healthychildren.org
Safety Tips for Home Playground Equipment (Español) – healthychildren.org

Playground Safety: Safe Surfaces toolkit – Prevent Child Injury

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Action of the Week

Every Monday, we are promoting a new action that families can take to keep their children safer while social distancing. Because it’s National Playground Safety Week, we’re encouraging families to check their backyard playground equipment. Before your kids run out to play, look over your equipment for some common hazards: loose, missing, or broken pieces; sharp pieces of metal or wood; and splintered wood.

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COVID Quick Tip

There have been reports of families buying more trampolines during stay-at-home orders, so emergency departments are expecting to see a rise in injuries relating to trampolines. Although the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends not buying trampolines, if you already have one, strongly enforce safety rules.

Trampolines: What You Need to Know (English) – healthychildren.org
Trampolines: What You Need to Know (Español) – healthychildren.org

“My daughter is begging for a backyard trampoline, but I’m concerned…” – Mayo Clinic

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Coming Up

On Our Calendar
May 4-10: National Bike Safety Month
May 11-17: Toolkit outreach week: swimming pool safety

Events
Kids In Danger is hosting a “Safe From the Start” webinar on May 7, 2020. Nancy Cowles, KID Executive Director, will be discussing children's product safety, including recalled products, furniture tip-overs, and choking and ingestion hazards. She will also be talking about creating a safe sleep environment for infants. A Q&A session will follow. RSVP for this event here. (Sign up early—seats are limited, and this event was created to accommodate overflow from the April 29 webinar).

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April 20th, 2020: Youth Sports During COVID-19

This week, we will be talking about youth sports during COVID-19. School is out and sports seasons have been postponed — what does this mean for young athletes? Some will continue to train at home without the supervision of their coach. Injuries might occur from improper technique and overuse. Others have difficulty staying motivated and might be disappointed or angry that their sports seasons have been cut short. On the other hand, social distancing could provide a much-needed rest period for athletes that train all year long. We have compiled resources that address all of these topics to better support young athletes during this time.

Staying Injury-Free While Training at Home

• inCourage: How to Keep Your Kids Safely Active…and Out of the Emergency Room

• Safe Kids: Sports Safety Checklist for Parents, Sports Overuse Injury Tip Sheet, Dehydration Safety Tip Sheet

• Health.com: We're All Doing At-Home Workouts Now—Here's How Not to Get Injured

  • Not specific to children and teens, but can be applied to any age

Encouraging Movement (Or Rest)

• The Aspen Institute Project Play: How can parents keep kids physically active if schools and sports are closed?

• At Your Own Risk: COVID-19 - Supporting Athletes at Home

Addressing Disappointment

• Positive Coaching Alliance: Dealing with Disappointment During Coronavirus Cancellations, Postponements

• Association for Applied Sports Psychology: The COVID-19 Pandemic - Tips for Athletes, Coaches, Parents, and the Sport Community 

Lastly, the Aspen Institute’s Project Play initiative is hosting an interactive discussion titled “Coronavirus & Youth Sports: What Kids Need from Coaches Now” on Wednesday, April 22nd from 2 - 3PM EST. The webinar will feature young people and their coaches as well as resources from trusted professionals about physical health and social emotional well-being. Register for free here.

COVID-19 Quick Tip

Over the last few weeks, some emergency departments have been seeing an increase in ATV injuries. Please share these resources with your peers and your community to encourage safety on ATVs.

• ATV Safety Toolkit

• U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission: ATV Safety Information Center

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Action of the Week

Every Monday, we are promoting a new, simple action that each family can take to keep their children safer while social distancing. This week, we want every family to review their child’s home training plan. If you have a young athlete in your home, it’s important to make sure that they are training safely. Ask your child a few questions to be sure that their plan was given to them by their coach or a certified program or individual, that it includes warm-up and cool down exercises, and that it includes days for rest.

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Coming Up

Kids In Danger is hosting a webinar next Wednesday, April 29th at 1PM Central Time. Nancy Cowles, KID Executive Director, will be discussing children's product safety, including recalled products, furniture tip-overs, and choking and ingestion hazards. She will also be talking about creating a safe sleep environment for infants. A Q&A session will follow. RSVP for this event here.

Next week’s newsletter will focus on National Playground Safety Week (April 27 - May 3), with a focus on backyard playgrounds, and the week after that we’ll be talking about National Bike Safety Month (May 4 - 10). If you or your organization has any materials or events about these topics that you would like us to promote to our members, please email info@preventchildinjury.org.

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April 13th, 2020: Falls in the Home

This week, we will be talking about falls that occur in the home. Falls are the leading cause of non-fatal injury for kids in the United States—nearly 8,000 kids are treated for a fall-related injury in the emergency room every day. Right now, while families are in their homes more than ever due to COVID-19, it’s important to address a few of the most common ways that children can fall so that parents can make their homes safer. Here are some links to resources to help get you started.

Stairs

• Prevent Child Injury Toolkit

• Nationwide Children’s Hospital

• Make Safe Happen

Windows

• Prevent Child Injury Toolkit

• National Safety Council

Furniture & TV Tip-overs

• Prevent Child Injury Toolkit

• CPSC: AnchorIt
  

Walkers

• HealthyChildren.org

• Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy

COVID-19 Quick Tip

Over the last few weeks, some emergency departments have been seeing an increase in burn injuries primarily occurring in the kitchen. Please share these resources with your peers and your community to raise awareness on this emerging issue.

• Food and Drink Scalds Toolkit

• Action: Designate a 3-foot "No Kids Zone" around the stove.

• Action: Always use a travel mug, even when you’re at home. 
  

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Action of the Week

Every Monday, we are promoting a new action that families can take to keep their children safer while social distancing. This week, we are asking families to complete a household safety checklist. These checklists are helpful in identifying hazards in your home that you might not notice. KidsHealth has a checklist for nearly every room in the house and even has one for hazards outside of your home: https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/household-checklist.html

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Coming Up

Next week’s newsletter will focus on National Youth Sports Safety Month (April 20 - 26), with an emphasis on backyard sports and training at home, and the week after that we’ll be talking about National Playground Safety Week (April 27 - May 1). If you or your organization has any materials or events about these topics that you would like us to promote to our members, please email info@preventchildinjury.org.

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In Case You Missed It…

Last week was National Public Health Week, and there were several events that encouraged discussion from individuals and organizations across disciplines. On Monday, April 6th, the NPHW Forum: "NPHW @ 25: The Future of Public Health is Now" discussed public health’s strides in the last 25 years, the challenges of eliminating health disparities, and the imperative to create a more just world. A recording will be posted soon here: http://nphw.org/events/nphw-forum

Prevent Child Injury participated in a Twitter chat to “discuss all things public health, celebrate everything public health has accomplished and talk about where the movement is going” on Wednesday, April 8th. To see the conversation, find @NPHW on Twitter.

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April 6th, 2020: Window Safety, National Public Health Week, and World Health Day (April 7th)

This week, we'll be talking about window safety, which includes window falls and injuries from window blind cords.  Check out our toolkit and these resources from the National Safety Council to spread the word and share important safety tips about this hidden hazard. 

Child injury is often overlooked during National Public Health Week and World Health Day, especially during a pandemic. With more children spending time in their homes due to school and daycare closures the risk of avoidable injury is high. So, this is an important topic to talk about, potentially now more than ever. 

Prevent Child Injury and many other organizations have recognized this, and have created a collection of resources to share with your community.

• Bookmark our page on COVID-19 that has links to great resources on this issue from many of our members with new information being added as it comes in. 

• Continue to use #StayAtHomeSafety when posting on social media. 

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Action of the Week

Every Monday, we are promoting a new, simple action that each family can take to keep their children safer while social distancing. This week, we want every family to think about how to keep the children in their home safer when they start opening the windows to let some fresh air in.  Remember that window screens are meant to keep bugs out, not kids in. Activate your window stops or guards to make sure windows can’t open more than 4 inches. If you don't have stops built in and can’t get window stops or guards delivered this week, start by moving furniture away from windows to make it harder for kids to get to the window.

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Coming Up 

Safe States Alliance is hosting a Twitter chat titled “Injuries & Violence: The Unintended Impact of COVID-19 and the Essential Role of Prevention” on Wednesday, April 8th, at 9AM PT/ 12PM EST. Use the hashtag #IVPisEssential to follow along and participate.

Next week’s newsletter will focus on interior fall hazards (April 13 - 19), and the week after that we’ll be talking about National Youth Sports Safety Month (April 20 - 26), with an emphasis on backyard sports and training at home. If you or your organization has any materials or events about these topics that you would like us to promote to our members, please email info@preventchildinjury.org.

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In Case You Missed It…

Last week, we hosted a Twitter chat about keeping kids safe at home while quarantining using #StayAtHomeSafety. We want to thank all of you who spread the word and participated. We were thrilled to have so many people and organizations participate, and we had over 20 million timeline deliveries. We put together a document that has the questions from the chat with a few of the answers that chat participants provided. You can access it  here. 

Also, PIPER at Colorado University hosted a Twitter chat on April 1st about child abuse and maltreatment during social distancing and quarantine. If you are interested in learning more about this topic, search #SaferQuarantine on Twitter. (P.S. You don't have to have a Twitter account to follow along with the conversation!) 

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