Safe Kids Wake County recommends parents keep these home safety tips in mind:

Preventing Fires & Burns

• Make sure you have working smoke alarms in every level of your home, outside each sleeping area and in every bedroom. Plan how you would get each child in your home to safety, to help them escape in a fire.  Practice a family fire drill twice a year.
• Set your water heater at 120 degrees and test the bathwater by running your whole hand and wrist throughout the tub before putting your child in it.

Around Water

• Always supervise children near water. Never leave young children alone in the bathtub or pool – a child can drown in a matter of seconds.
• Keep toilet lids closed and lock all doors to bathrooms.
• Safeguard your pools and hot tubs by making sure your pool has four-sided fencing and a self-closing, self-latching gate that is locked when no adult “water watcher” is on duty. Hot tubs should be covered and locked when not in use.  
• Install protection to prevent entrapment if you own a pool or hot tub, such as protective measures like anti-entrapment drain covers and safety vacuum release systems.

Around the Home

• Prevent serious falls by keeping furniture away from windows, installing guards or stops on windows that are not emergency exits, and installing safety gates at the top and the bottom of stairs if you have small children. Never use baby walkers and always use 9 to 12 inches of soft surfacing, such as woodchips, rubber mulch, or pea gravel, under and around playground equipment.
• Put your baby on his or her back to sleep on a crib that meets all current national safety standards. Remove all pillows, comforters, stuffed toys and other soft products from the crib before putting your baby to sleep.
• While looking at a room as your child would, ask yourself what looks interesting and what can be reached. Get rid of small items your child can choke on.
• Keep guns locked, unloaded and where kids cannot reach them. Lock up ammunition in a separate place.

Preventing Poisonings

• Lock up poisons such as medicine, vitamins, cleaning supplies and pet food. Read labels and follow directions when giving medicine to children.  Post the Poison Center Helpline by every phone: 1-800-222-1222.
• Make sure you have working carbon monoxide detectors in every sleeping area and on each level of your home. Test them every month and make sure heating systems are vented outside and checked each year.

Be Prepared for Emergencies

• Be prepared for emergencies and keep emergency numbers by every telephone.
• Call 911 if your child is choking, collapses, can’t breathe or is having a seizure.
• Check your first aid kit to make sure it is fully stocked.
• Make sure babysitters and other caregivers know where to find first aid supplies and how to handle an emergency.

For more safety tips on how to make your home safer for your children, visit www.safekids.org.

Angie Bullock is manager of WakeMed’s Trauma Program and serves as the Safe Kids Wake County Coalition Coordinator.

For safety always wear a helmet when sledding and sit with your feet facing forward.

The following story ran yesterday on News 14.  Click here to view the story.  The most important parts of the story have been highlighted below.  Also, please refer to our previous blog postings from last year to prevent falls and sledding accidents during winter weather.

News 14: Emergency rooms brace for sledding accidents

With the possibility of winter weather later this week, North Carolina hospitals are

preparing to treat victims of snow related accidents and not just on the roads.

Hospitals say the number of patients hurt or killed in recreational activities goes up when snow and ice piles up.

“Every time we have a good snow, we get a surge of injuries as a result of sledding,” said Dr. Osi Udekwu, WakeMed’s Trauma Director.

In fact, Dr. Udekwu says last winter, the hospital treated several severe sledding injuries and even one death.

Doctors say a lot of sledding accidents result from when sleds are pulled by cars, trucks, or all-terrain vehicles. And if you just do a simple YouTube search, it’s not hard to find several examples of those accidents in North Carolina.

“That is really a no no,” Udekwu said. “Because, the sled has no way of coming to a halt by itself. There are no brakes on the sled.”

Dr. Udekwu says all age groups are at risk when it comes to snow related accidents.

“It really doesn’t exclude anybody,” said Dr. Udekwu. “And the additional issue is that many of them are celebrating with alcohol or other intoxicants at the same time, and that really is a bad combination.”

Experts say before you hit the ice, dress appropriately, and wear a helmet. If sledding in a neighborhood or cul-de-sac, make sure you close off the area to vehicles, and have adults supervise. And again, when on the sled, don’t be towed.

“You wouldn’t tow a vehicle with a tow rope with no control over the towed vehicle, and you shouldn’t do it with a sled either,” said Dr. Udekwu.

The answer is actually pretty simple, and in less acute cases, may prevent a trip to the emergency department in the first place. 

1.       If your child is acutely ill or injured, and you believe it could be life-threatening call 9-1-1.  The paramedics can often stabilize your child onsite and can quickly determine which facility best suits your child’s needs. 

2.       If your child’s illness or injury is not life-threatening and you have some time to figure out which facility would be best, then it is my recommendation to call your pediatrician.  Pediatrician’s offices, including the health departments and WakeMed clinics, have someone taking call 24 hours a day 7 days a week. The advice nurse or physician can help you assess the best place to take your child should an ED visit seem necessary.  So, if an illness or injury is not life-threatening and you are trying to decide where to go, the best first move is to pick up the phone.

The reality is, most of the emergency physicians that staff WakeMed emergency departments rotate through all facilities, so you will be getting the same top-quality medical care regardless of the emergency department your pediatrician recommends.  The main difference is that the Children’s Emergency Department is designed exclusively for children and children are only admitted to the WakeMed main campus Children’s Hospital.

Courtney Mann, MD, is the medical director for WakeMed Children’s Emergency Department.

Now, Grover and Rosita star in a PSA teaching us all about the importance of creating an emergency preparedness kit.  And, Sesame Street has an entire section of their web site dedicated to emergency preparedness.   Take some time to visit the site with your child, watch the videos and talk through the information.  In the event of an emergency, you’ll be thankful you did.

Barb Bisset is the executive director of the WakeMed Emergency Services Institute.

Changing the school lunch to make it healthier is a surprisingly complex, controversial topic because there is no easy solution.  It is an issue of money, history, policy, and children’s dietary choices. 

If people are serious about doing something about improving the nutrition in schools, there are steps that can be taken at a local level.  We can make an impact inexpensively on things like putting nutritional standards on items available a la carte or making a commitment to having your child buy lunch at school if it is healthy.

On November 10^th Advocates for Health in Action is hosting two screenings of Lunch Line, a documentary that follows six kids in Chicago all the way to Washington DC in their effort to change their school lunch.  I like this movie because it tells both sides of the story, and it shows people that if you want to change school lunches that there is a lot that needs to be done.  It is my hope that this movie screening will give us a place to start having a productive conversation to help make school lunches healthier.

As an added bonus, Lunch Line’s the co-producer Michael Graziano will be available to lead a discussion following each screening.  I had the opportunity to meet Michael earlier this year at a conference and was really impressed with his breadth of knowledge about the topic. He and his co-producer managed to portray complicated issue in a way that is entertaining and educational.

Purchase tickets by clicking here.

Laura Aiken is a community health specialist with WakeMed and is director of Advocates for Health in Action.

• Costumes should be short and snug – baggy sleeves or billowy capes and skirts can trip your child up and catch fire if they brush against jack-o-lanterns or candle flames.
• Shoes need to fit – big, floppy shoes (clown shoes or adult shoes) can be hard to walk in and could make your child fall.
• Costume props should be flexible – costume props can cause injury during a fall. Make sure swords, knives, etc. are made of flexible plastic or rubber.
• Masks should fit properly and the eye holes should allow for full visibility. Even better, use face paint instead of wearing a mask.
• Make sure drivers can see costumes in the dark – wear a glow-in-the-dark costume or attach retroreflective tape or stickers to your child’s costume. Make sure they take a flashlight with them.
• Go trick-or-treating in a group – don’t allow children to trick-or-treat alone. And, make sure an adult accompanies the group.
• Remind children to cross streets at crosswalks and intersections – stop at street corners. Look left, right and left again before crossing, and don’t cross between parked cars.
• Inspect treats before they are eaten – remind your children to pick only wrapped candy when they trick-or-treat.

Sylvia Scholl is director of WakeMed Trauma Program.

• Be especially alert in residential neighborhoods.
• Drive more slowly and anticipate heavy pedestrian traffic on and near the road.
• Keep your full headlights on so you can spot children and families from a greater distance.
• Take extra time to actively look for kids at intersections, on medians and on curbs. Costumes can limit children’s visibility and they may not be able to see your vehicle.
• Remember that some costumes can affect stability and mobility of children when walking through neighborhoods.
• Enter and exit driveways and alleys slowly and carefully.
• Be especially careful during popular trick-or-treating hours, 5:30 to 9:30 pm.
• Reduce any distractions inside your car so you can concentrate on the road and pedestrians.

Sylvia Scholl is the director of the WakeMed Trauma Program.

Ensure your child is riding safely by having WakeMed and Safe Kids car seat safety checkers review your seat installation and fit on your child this Saturday, October 23 from 10 to 1 on WakeMed Raleigh Campus in front of the Heart Center. 

Also, check out this story that ran last night on WRAL about the importance of  proper car seat installation and fit that ran last night.

Visit Safe Kids web site for more car seat safety tips, and see this recent study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Stafety reviewing booster seat safety and fit.

Many believe disasters will not impact their community or affect them and, if a disaster does happen, that they will be taken care by a relief agency.   The reality is, disasters can and do strike communities in America every day. 

Hampton Oaks neighborhood in Raleigh following 1988 tornado.

While we are lucky to live in a region where natural disasters are infrequent, those who have lived in Wake County for the past 20 years, will remember the ice storm of 2005, Hurricane Fran in 1996, and the tornado of 1988. These storms severely impaired transportation, our ability to communicate, and electrical and water service.  It is important that we prepare ourselves and our families in advance so we can stay safe and healthy in the event of a disaster.

In the past, emergency preparedness organizations recommended everyone keep enough supplies on-hand to for 36 hours.  After massive disasters like Katrina, it is now recommended that we all keep 96 hours of supplies on hand.  In a previous blog, I listed some suggestions for your disaster preparedness kits.

Glenwood Ave looking toward Crabtree after Hurricane Fran in 1996.

But, supplies are not the only way we can and should prepare.   And home is not the only location we need to think about.  We also need to be prepared for disasters at work, school, and any other location where you or your family spend a significant amount of time.  It is also a good idea to carry a small kit in your car with nonperishable food, water, flashlight, and a blanket or two.  Additionally, we need to think ahead and make a plan to reconnect after the disaster.

Please take some time to review these exceptional online resources, talk with your family and be prepared for the unexpected.

Ready Wake

Ready NC

American Red Cross

Barb Bisset is the executive director of the WakeMed Emergency Services Institute.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Wake Specialty Physicians – ENT Audiologists Jeanne Lansing and Cameron Warren offer the following suggestions to identify hearing loss and minimize your child’s over exposure to noise.

When Is Loud Too Loud?

Noise induced hearing loss (NIHL) is a gradual, painless and cumulative loss of hearing associated with over exposure to loud sounds. There are three factors associated with NIHL:

• Loudness
• The duration of exposure to the sound
• The frequency a person is exposed to the sound
• Proximity to the sound

Safety experts use these factors in a specific mathematical equation to determine if factory workers need ear protection on the job,” says Warren.  “These measurements are difficult to obtain for personal devices.”

Tips and Technology to Prevent Hearing Loss

• Set the volume at 50 percent or less.  Many devices have volume ranges.  Set the volume at no more than 50 percent. 
• Limit exposure.  Monitor your child’s listening habits as much as possible.
• Don’t hear the music.  You should not be able to hear the music or game your child is listening to when he or she is using earbuds.
• Volume lock parental control. Many portable music devices come with volume locks.  These are great for younger children but not as effective for older children and teens, who learn how to circumvent the parental control.
• Custom earmolds.  For about $100, you can have these made for your child.  Custom earmolds limit the outside noise associated with improperly fitting earbuds so kids can turn down the volume.

So, how can you tell if the music coming through those earbuds into your child’s ears is too loud?  “The next time your child is listening to the mp3 player, stand about three feet away.  Can you hear the music he is listening to?  If so, the volume is up too high,” says Lansing.

Lansing and Warren agree:  noise induced hearing loss is 100 percent preventable.  They also agree that audiologists will begin to see more people who experience hearing loss from over exposure to noise at a younger age than in the past.  “Hearing loss is painless and happens over time,” says Warren.  “Before you realize it, you are having problems.”  If teens, and, yes, adults who “crank up the tunes” turn down the volume and exercise the right precautions, they can enjoy excellent hearing for many years to come.

What Are the Signs of Over Exposure to Noise?

• Ringing in the ears – Temporary or constant
• Speech sounds muffled after you remove the earbuds
• If parents and teachers need to raise their voices after exposure to the noise
• Difficulty understanding someone an arm’s length away
• Ear pain can also be associated with over exposure to noise, but it is not common.