Prevention Strategies: Protect Babies' Heads and Necks
Shaken Baby Syndrome
Research indicates that as many as 50% of teenagers and young adults are completely unaware that shaking a baby can cause brain injury or death to an infant. The complete story on this can be found on the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome web site at http://www.dontshake.com
Safeguard your home with baby gates to prevent crawling or falling on stairs.
Strangulations cause brain trauma:
- Make sure infants cannot get their heads trapped in stair railings, cribs, or other small spaces.
- Make sure there are no draw strings on children's clothing.
- Check to see that window blind cords do not have a continuous loop on which children can strangle.
Drowning causes brain anoxia and subsequent brain damage:
Children should wear life jackets when on boats, docks, rafts, inner tubes, and playing near water. They also need arms-length reach supervision by an adult at all times when children are in the water.
Safeguard your playground equipment:
What can I do to make my child’s playground safe?
Falls off playground equipment account for more than 60% of all playground related injuries. It is important to make sure protective surfacing covers the entire area encompassing the playground.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends that playground surfaces have at least 12 inches of wood chips, mulch, sand, pea gravel, or safety-tested rubber mats. The protective surfacing should extend at least six feet in all directions from equipment. In addition, all platforms should have guardrails to prevent falls.