Safety Tips to Prevent Burns and Scalds | EWmums.com
 

Safety Tips to Prevent Burns and Scalds

Hot water can scar your child for life

Posted on

31 July 2013

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Preventing Burns and Scalds

Hot water is one of life’s essentials. Whether it’s a cup of coffee after a hard day's work. Or a lovely, hot bath to soak away the stress of the day.

But hot water can also scar a young child for life. And it’s not just hot water that can cause serious injuries.

Did You Know?

  • A baby’s skin is 15 times thinner than an adult’s.
  • Over 500 under fives are rushed to casualty every week in the UK because of burns and scalds.
  • Hot drinks are the number one cause of scalds among under fives.
  • A hot drink can still scald a young child 15 minutes after it’s been made.
  • Every day one child under five is admitted to hospital with scalds caused by bath water.
  • It can take only five seconds for a toddler to suffer third degree burns from water from your bath’s hot tap. They may need painful skin grafts until they stop growing, many years later.
  • Hair straighteners can get as hot as an iron. And they can stay hot enough to severely burn a young child 8 minutes after being unplugged.
  • Chip pans are a common cause of house fires in which children are injured.
  • Young children can find fire fascinating but don’t they understand its dangers.
  • Safety Tips

  • Don’t leave hot drinks within reach of curious little hands.
  • Don’t hold a baby or young child while holding a hot drink. Or pass a hot drink over their head in case you spill it.
  • Treat your hair straighteners like you would your iron and always keep them out of young chidren’s sight and reach.
  • Use a kettle with a short or curly flex. Keep your kettle pushed to the back of your kitchen work surface.
  • If warming your baby’s milk, always shake the bottle well, and then pour a few drops on the inside of your wrist. It should feel lukewarm not hot.
  • When you are cooking, use the rings at the back of the cooker. And turn pan handles towards the back. This way they can’t be grabbed by little fingers.
  • When you are running a bath, put the cold water in first, then the hot.
  • When bathing a baby or toddler, test the bathwater first with your elbow- the water should not feel hot or cold.
  • Replace your chip pan with a thermostatically controlled deep-fat fryer or use oven chips. If you can’t give up your chip pan, never fill it more than one third full of oil.
  • If your chip pan does catch fire, don’t throw water over it- it will explode! If it’s safe to do so, turn off the heat. Then get out, stay out and call 997 for the Fire Service in Dubai.
  • Keep matches and lighters where young children can’t see them or reach them.
  • Use fireguards to stop babies and young children falling onto fires or heaters.