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Winter is almost here and it’s
time to keep warm. But, when heating homes, making
warm winter foods and drinks and generally arming your
family against Jack Frost, don’t forget that safety,
as well as warmth is important.
Winter is a peak time for burns to
children, particularly young children. Three quarters
of all children admitted to our hospitals with burns
are preschoolers – and many of these children are
scalded by hot drinks and hot foods.
| Keeping children safe from burns
can be as simple as ensuring that you and
other adults
never drink hot drinks while nursing babies, or
while children are on your lap.
You can also take other simple
steps:
Buy children’s pyjamas that are
labelled ‘fire resistant’ but always ensure
children sit well away from heaters or fires.
Use fireguards around open or
inbuilt fires and heater guards around electric, gas
or oil heaters.
Never leave candles burning in
children’s bedrooms, and if you use them in other
areas, always extinguish them before leaving the
room.
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And, ensure you have working
smoke alarms in your home. You can test your alarms
regularly and it’s a good idea to vacuum them to
ensure you get rid of any dust build up. In a fire
these alarms may mean the difference between your
family getting out safety or a tragedy happening.
Move the kettle out of children’s
reach and ensure kettle cords are “hooked”
away from reach using inexpensive hooks.
Turn pot handles towards the
back of the stove and cook on the rear elements
first.
Run cold water into the bath
before
the hot water and always supervise young
children while they bath or shower.
Fill hot water bottles only
with hot water from the tap – not boiling water.
If you use these in your baby’s cot or child’s
bed, take it out before your child goes to
bed.
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