Preventing Accidents and Injuries

Preventing Accidents and Injuries

Introduction

This paper intends to develop a teaching plan for prevention of accidents and injuries in children. The main elements of the presentation will be presented to a group of parents or elderly or the immediate caregivers of the children. Because children aren't born accident-proof, but, hard as it may be to see pictures of youngsters recovering after they have burned themselves, dashed out in front of cars or fallen over the staircase, it's a lot less traumatic than rushing to the emergency department of a hospital with a child whose accident could have been prevented. The purpose of this paper is to make the reader aware about the significance of preventing accidents and injuries in children.

Discussion

Brief Overview of the Purpose

Because children aren't born accident-proof, but, hard as it may be to see pictures of youngsters recovering after they have burned themselves, dashed out in front of cars or fallen over staircase, it's a lot less traumatic than rushing to the emergency department of a hospital with a child whose accident could have been prevented. What's not so widely known is the range of non-fatal injuries. More children are seriously hurt falling from beds than falling off trees or roofs. Children left alone in bathtubs can be scalded by hot water. Car doors crush tiny fingers. Thrown stones and rocks cause eye injuries and fractured skulls (Holinger, 1990).

Horizontal railings on balconies afford great climbing challenges for children who can then topple to the ground below. A toddler is most at risk exploring and tasting. But even four and five-year-olds need protection and shouldn't be expected to know about dangers because they've been warned or even punished. Children must be protected by action and taught by action. It's certainly tiring for parents but a child must be removed from dangers again and again, with the action supplemented by simple words such as "no."

It's hard, but essential to keep up with a youngster's development and sudden spurts in abilities so you don't have to tell the doctor in the emergency department at the hospital, "I had no idea he could climb all those stairs," or "I never realized she could reach the top of the stove." Children are quite capable of putting almost anything in their mouths. For years, the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto displayed in a huge glass case objects that had been retrieved from children's stomachs. They included plum pits, thimbles, plastic tubing, Band Aids, coins, bobby pins, whistles and keys (David, 2012).

Significance of Selected Injury

Drowning is a leading cause of unintentional injury death worldwide, and the highest rates are among children (1). Overall, drowning death rates in the United States have declined in the last decade; however, drowning is the leading cause of injury death among children aged 1-4 years. The horror is real; it is not a movie. Every week, time stands still when a previously well youngster is injured; the tragedy affects the whole ...