4 Tips to Protect Kids from Personal Injury this Summer

Summer is a great time for family fun and getting outdoors. However, it can also be a dangerous time in Raleigh, as personal injury cases tend to pick up due to certain seasonal activities. Here’s a look at four of the leading causes of summertime injuries for kids, and what you can do to help prevent them.

1. Watch Children Around Water and Learn CPR

Every year, 390 lives could be saved if adults kept a closer eye on children around water, according to an ABC news report. Children between the ages of one and four are more likely to drown than any other age group. Although kids at this age are generally supervised, they often slip away unnoticed, only to be discovered in a pool later. For this reason, all pool owners have a responsibility to have a child-proof fence installed. It’s also worth noting that drownings are the second only to auto accidents for cause of death for the 1-14 group as well. CPR classes for adults and teens can help reduce the risk, and nobody, regardless of age, should be permitted to swim alone.

2. Don’t Let Kids Ride ATVs and Other Motorized Vehicles

More than 50 deaths and 28,000 injuries could be prevented if children under 16 weren’t allowed to ride ATVs, per an NBC report. Doctors at the Mayo Clinic say young children truly can’t handle the power behind them alone, and adults sometimes mistakenly believe they can navigate just as well with a child on their lap. Although it can be a fun family pastime, kids really need safety training and maturity that only comes with age in order to handle these several-hundred-pound beasts.

3. Make Sure Children Wear Protective Gear While Riding Bikes

Safety training and protective gear could save countless lives, and may also prevent some 10,000 children from being hospitalized every year. Another 300,000 children might not have to suffer through this form of personal injury either. It’s tough to avoid serious harm in car-bicycle accidents, but a helmet may be able to prevent traumatic brain injury, and at least save the child’s life. Safety courses also teach awareness of the roads and how to avoid accidents.

4. Keep Fireworks Away from Kids

Live Science says that injuries from fireworks alone send 6,000 kids to emergency rooms every year. Approximately 30% of these injuries come from firecrackers, 21% from sparklers, and 18% are caused by aerial devices. Older children are more prone to “flash burns” from incidents with things like fireworks and campfires. Younger ones are likely to be hurt by “scald burns,” which occur more often when hot foods are pulled down from tables, ovens, and countertops. If the danger can’t be avoided altogether, supervision is key.

Raleigh Personal Injury Attorney

Adults have an obligation to keep children in their care safe. If your child was hurt because an adult, organization, or venue failed to provide practical safety measures, they should be held accountable. Parents often get stuck with medical bills and other expenses as a result, and they have to take time away from work to care for their kids. However, courts often award reparations for these things, so the family doesn’t suffer any more than it already has. For a consultation, please contact us using our online form, or speak to one of our attorneys now by calling 919-833-5555.