In the first few years of life, children spend most of their time at home. As a result, most children under the age of 5 who are injured are injured in the home.
Home Safety Task Force
The Home Safety Task Force works to prevent injuries to young children – and children of all ages – through educating all members of the family on how to make their home safer. The task force focuses on the most prevalent safety issues, which include:
- Prevention of television and furniture tip-overs
- Falls
- Burns
- Drowning prevention (most drowning incidents involving children occur in the backyard pool or the tub)
- Prevention of choking, poisoning and prescription drug safety
- Firearm safety
As part of this effort and through funding from the Trauma Research and Education Foundation (TREF), Safe Kids San Diego produced the “Home Safety Makeover in a Day” video, which includes multiple members of the Safe Kids coalition. The Wallace family, which is featured in the video, brought their story to Safe Kids through one our Safe Kids champions, Sharon Vega, and the Kendall Project. Please watch the video below and take notes. There is a lot of information!
Video: “Home Safety Makeover in a Day”
Dog Bite Prevention Education
The Home Safety Task Force has also partnered with the American Nurses Association and a “nursing champion” from Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego to provide education on the prevention of dog bites. On average, the Hospital’s Emergency Department treats upwards of 377 dog bites each year – about one every day! Most of these occurrences involve the family pet and a child under the age of 5, with bites to the face and neck. All of these injuries can be avoided by learning how to read your dog’s cues and body language so that you know when they have had enough. As part of this effort, the task force offers a presentation on dog bite prevention (see below).
Presentations
The task force can bring the following presentations to your organization or classroom.
Junior Home Inspector
This 45-minute presentation will engage children in the identification of common home safety hazards. The multimedia, interactive format encourages children to be active members of the family in reducing safety hazards in and around the home. Participants are provided with a mini LED flashlight, a home safety checklist, word search puzzles and an educational coloring book.
Duration: 45 minutes
Audience: Children 5-9 years old. Appropriate for elementary classrooms, scout groups, and boys and girls clubs. Group size: eight-20.
Who Let the Dogs Bite?
Emergency rooms across the nation see and treat 1,000 dog bites a day. This presentation is designed to teach children and adults how we can all be safe with our canine friends. The interactive format includes a visual presentation of dog body language that may say to people “I’ve had enough.” Information is also provided about what to do when a loose dog approaches, and how to safely interact with dogs, especially our own family pets.
Duration: 45 minutes
Audience: Children ages 6 and up, parents and coaches, teacher organizations, scout clubs.
Resources
For more information on how to prevent dog bites, watch our “Ask Your Nurse” video below and visit www.TheSocialK9.com and www.TheFamilyDog.com.
For more tips on how to make your home safer, please click on the Injury Prevention Fact Sheets and download the topic-specific or age-specific handouts that are most relevant to you.
For information on risk areas in the home, visit https://www.safekids.org/safetytips/field_venues/home.