Personal WaterCraft & Kids: Can They Be Fast AND Safe??
For those of us here in the U.S., summer is here, it’s hot out and that means that thousands of children will be hitting the water looking to go fast! Summer is the time to think about the beach and being outside and speeding around oceans, lakes or canals in (PWC) or personal watercrafts. PWC have steadily risen in ownership in the U.S to well over a million and with that increase in ownership come’s an increase in operators and injuries to the tune of over 12,000 documented injuries annually. Most injuries seem to occur when PWC collide—either with other vessels including other PWC or with fixed objects such as docks or tree stumps. Behavioral factors cited in 3 studies include operator inexperience (most operators had <20 hours of experience in boat operation), operator inattention, and excess speed or reckless operation. Some PWC can seat as many as 3 people and hit speeds of 60 mph. PWC are the only recreational boats for which the leading cause of death is not drowning; most fatalities result from blunt trauma.
The answer to the question of how to keep our children safe on the water seems to be the same as it has been for quite some time. Education and hands on practice. We need to educate our children and ourselves on water safety, both in and out of the water and both for operating and riding on a PWC. The Personal Watercraft Industry Association has the following recommendations:
RECOMMENDATIONS
- No one younger than 16 years should operate PWC.
- The operator and every passenger must wear a US Coast Guard-approved personal flotation device.
- Alcohol or other drug use should be avoided before and while operating PWC.
- Participation in a safe boater course with specific information about PWC should be required before operating PWC.
- Safe operating practices, such as no operation between sunset and sunrise, no wake jumping, and observing posted speed limits or no-wake zones, should be followed. (No-wake zone means the craft speed is slow enough that no wake is formed behind the craft as it crosses a specific area.)
- PWC should not be operated where swimmers are in the water.
- If a PWC is being used to tow another person on skis, knee boards, tubes, or other devices, a second person must face the rear to monitor the person being towed.
- All persons who rent PWC should be required to comply with these recommendations.
- Protective equipment such as wet suits, gloves, boots, eyewear, and helmets may be appropriate to wear.
When it comes to PWC, owning and operating a PWC is the same as owning and operating a car and should be treated with the same amount of respect. Would you hand over your car keys to your child who has little to no driver training? Of course not and the same should hold true when it comes to any PWC. The numbers don’t lie. Everyone needs PWC drivers Ed. Putting in the time before hand will save a lot of pain and suffering during what should be the most fun time of the year for kids.
Thank you and be safe
Today is National Heatstroke Prevention Day 2023!
Every year on average, 40 children die in hot cars in the US
What can you do??
- Always keep cars locked & keys out of reach of children. If a child is missing – check in all cars!
- Ask childcare to call you if your baby doesn’t show up as planned!
- A car is not a babysitter. NEVER leave a child or animal alone inside a vehicle, not even for a minute!
- See a child alone in a car? Get involved! Call 911 immediately
- If you think it can’t happen to you, please think again. (Ray Ray’s Story)
*Image credit: kidsandcars.org
What I Remember and Why It Matters: A 1978 Child EMS Transport
St. Petersburg, FL., the year was probably 1978 or 79. My partner and I had responded to a drowning in a large apartment complex at the north end of town. When we arrived we found a bunch of people doing or trying to do CPR. While we were getting into position to take over care a news crew arrived and began to film the action- the cameraman positioned right behind me.
The child was blue and just had that look and feel. The outcome was not going to change and it was not right that it was being filmed- solely for the benefit of the TV station. Somehow when I stood up I bumped into the cameraman and into the pool he went.
Fencing could have, would have prevented the death of this child. Parental oversight could have, would have prevented the death of this child. These were not the only mistakes to be made. We put the child on the stretcher and began the very long trip to the hospital.
We did not secure the child in any special way to the stretcher. We never had any means to do so and nothing bad ever happened. Each time we transported a child back then, we did so either using the stretcher or more commonly held the baby in our arms- as though we could hold onto a 30 pound baby in a high speed collision. But we did it time and again and nothing bad ever happened.
That’s not to say that there could not have been a catastrophic outcome from the transport – it just never happened – to me.
Back then we were not taught any better and frankly did not know better. Back then the world was a lot larger. We did not know what happened across the country or the world like we do today- only ‘major news’ received that level of exposure. And the fact that we did not believe anything bad would happen kept us from seeking change or improvement. As a society we have enacted universal laws that govern how we transport children in ordinary vehicles. We made these changes because bad things do happen. Emergency vehicles are the same as other cars- only riskier- they run red lights and go fast. We need to adopt the same laws as those that apply to all vehicles
How children are transported today is about the same as it was back then and largely for the same reason- we take a risk and nothing bad happens.
There are those who advocate for safer transport of children and infants and some states have enacted legislation to require safe transport equipment for emergency vehicles. Most people just assume that EMS, 911 responders, know what to do and do the right thing.
So what is the moral to this story? We often get angry when bad things happen and lash out in the wrong direction. Hindsight is most often crystal clear but too often we fail to use this vision to change the future.
* Learn CPR ** Insist that all states require EMS vehicles to carry and use approved child and infant transport equipment ** Ask questions and get involved *
* No Excuses*
Embrace Life by Buckling Up [Video]
It never ceases to amaze me how many people do not use their seat belts while driving or riding as a passenger, even with all the statistics and evidence that proves the risk of severe and/or fatal injuries is immensely higher for those who do not buckle up. As a registered nurse, I’ve seen too much to ever think of being in a moving vehicle without my seat belt on to protect me.
An ad has been circulating to promote seat belt usage in a new way. It is a short, simple message, and yet so powerful and it is the hope of the creators that it will inspire people to stop and think about all they stand to lose if they should ever be in an accident while unbuckled.
Do yourself, your family, friends, and all of us a favor – BUCKLE UP and drive safely! Your loved ones will be glad you did!
Finally – A Step Towards Safe Transport for Kids in Ambulances!
In 2008 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) convened a working group of representatives from the American Academy of Pediatrics, Emergency Medical Services for Children, the American Ambulance Association, and other key organizations and started a project called “Solutions to Safely Transport Children in Emergency Vehicles”. Finally a long-standing problem was being recognized and addressed: “there are no Federal standards or standard protocols among EMS and child safety professionals in the U.S. for how best to transport children safely in ground ambulances from the scene of a traffic crash or a medical emergency to a hospital or other facility. The absence of consistent national standards and protocols … complicates the work of EMS professionals and may result in the improper and unsafe restraint of highly vulnerable child passengers.”(1)
In fact a 1998 study regarding the use of child restraints in ambulances revealed that 35 States did not require patients of ANY AGE to be restrained in a ground ambulance. Of those States that did require some sort of child restraint system, requirements for an “acceptable restraint” varied significantly.(2)
It is illegal in the US to travel with an unrestrained child in an automobile. However, when a child is already sick or injured, we have been willing to transport them in a vehicle where the passenger compartment is exempt from most safety requirements, they cannot be properly restrained and they have a higher probability of an accident than an automobile. We might not if we knew the following:
- It is estimated that up to 1,000 ambulance crashes involve pediatric patients each year.(3)
- In a collision at 35mph, an unrestrained 15kg child is exposed to the same forces as in falling from a 4th story window.(4)
Wednesday September 19, 2012, after an intense 2 year research effort, a public meeting in August 2010 to review the findings and gather input (see Pediatric Safety Post by Sandy Schnee “A Public Meeting on Safe Transport for Kids on Ambulances“), and 2 additional years refining the results, NHTSA has released the official:
“BEST PRACTICE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE SAFE TRANSPORT OF CHILDREN IN EMERGENCY GROUND AMBULANCES” …Thank you NHTSA!!
The working group outlined 5 potential child transport “Situations” (see chart below) and for each described their “Ideal” solution – the best practice recommendation for safe a safe transport for each situation. They also presented an “If the Ideal is not Practical or Achievable” alternative – basically an “acceptable” backup plan.
They also came up with guidelines to assist EMS providers in selecting a child restraint system – particularly important because due to the lack of regulation and testing requirements specific to ground ambulances, many of the available child restraint devices were not designed for use in ambulances, some were tested to automotive standards and others were not tested at all.
In the end, the ultimate goal of ALL the recommendations: Prevent forward motion/ejection, secure the torso, and protect the head, neck, and spine of all children transported in emergency ground ambulances.
In short – transport these children safely.
We know that since the adoption of “mandatory use laws” in the U.S. for child safety restraints in automobiles, that thousands of children’s lives have been saved. Yet for years we have continued to allow children to be transported unrestrained on ambulances. With this report, we have finally taken a step in the right direction…
“It is hoped that the recommendations provided in this report will address the lack of consistent standards or protocols among EMS and child passenger safety professionals in the United States regarding how to most safely transport children in ground ambulances from the scene of a traffic crash or medical emergency to a hospital or other facility. It should be noted that the expectation is that States, localities, associations, and EMS providers will implement these recommendations to improve the safe transportation of children in emergency ground ambulances when responding to calls encountered in the course of day-to-day operations of EMS providers. In addition, it is hoped that EMS providers will be better prepared to safely transport children in emergency ground ambulances when faced with disaster and mass casualty situations”.
…. Amen to that !!
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Editorial Update: Quite a bit has happened since the original publication of this article. Suffice it to say that while this was a terrific step in the right direction – it was not enough to cause the system-wide level of change hoped for. According to ems.gov… “unanswered questions remain, primarily due to the lack of ambulance crash testing research specific to children.” To address this, in 2017 the National Association of State EMS Officials (NASEMSO) established the Safe Transport of Children Ad Hoc Committee, with the goal of improving the safety of children transported by ambulance through the creation of evidence-based standards. Pediatric Safety will continue to follow their efforts in future articles as they work to improve the national standard of care and establish consistent guidelines for the safe transport of all our children on ambulances. Every ride, every time.
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References:
1. Notice published by NHTSA of Public Meeting on August 5th, 2010 to discuss draft version Recommendations for Safe Transport of Children on Ground Ambulance Vehicles: Federal Register, July 19, 2010,
2 & 3. Working Group Best-Practice Recommendations for the Safe Transportation of Children in Emergency Ground Ambulances: NHTSA / USDOT, September 2012
4. “EMS to Your Rescue?” Int’l Forum on Traffic Records & Hwy Safety Info. Systems – Levick N, July, 2008
What You Need to Know About Car Seat Safety? Ask a Fireman
Being a firefighter, I come across a lot of situations that make me shake my head in wonder. The one that my fellow firemen and I continually come across is installing and checking car seats and the many interesting and creative ways people have managed to improperly install a car seat. Whether you are the SUV with a few seats that have been installed for a while, or the new dad sweating on the way to the hospital stopping at the fire station asking the nice firemen to install your brand new seat, there are a few things that need to be taken into account when choosing your car seat and then installing your car seat.
What choice could matter more than that of the one your child is going to be sitting in as you motor around town? Choosing the correct car seat for your new baby or young child requires some homework and label reading.
First there is price. Car seats come in all price ranges, from free at some local fire stations and community organizations to very expensive with extra padding, lights and toys. Just because a seat costs more does not make it a better seat than the one next to it. Check online at places like www.consumerreports.com or www.safekids.org to find out how these seats compare to one another will give you better insight as to the correct choice for you and may even surprise you.
Next is the correct size seat for your child. This is the part about label reading that I mentioned before. Car seats are designed with a specific weight and height in mind for each seat and making sure the seat is the correct size for your specific child maximizes the safety of the seat for your child. Seats that are too big may allow for too much room for movement and seats that are too small may make your child uncomfortable and ultimately unsafe. Car seats should be securely snug but not a tourniquet.
Installation. Having your brand new car seat is wonderful and having it installed correctly is the most important factor of all. Where can I go to have my new car seat installed? There are many places that will correctly install your new car seat by using certified installation experts that have been trained on many different types of vehicles and the important points of each type of vehicle. You may want to call your local fire department or hospital for information on places to go for installation and you can also consult websites like www.safekids.org or the national highway traffic safety administration website http://www.nhtsa.gov to find installation centers in your area and may even find info on installation events going on in your area right now.
If you have any questions about a soon to be purchase of a car seat or the one that is in your car right now, please feel free to stop in at any fire station and ask for a check. We may shake our head but we love knowing your kids are safe.
God Bless!
