What’s the Best Way to Treat Your Child’s Bee Sting?
The best way to treat a bee sting is to avoid bees in the first place, so stay away from hives or other areas that you know shelter bees. Brightly colored clothing, perfumes, sugary foods and sugary beverages also attract bees, so avoid these lures when you’re outside.
If your child is stung, the key is to stay calm. Kids are usually frightened and defensive, so it’s essential for you as the parent to take control before you can help.
If the stinger is visible, remove it to get rid of the source of the pain-inducing venom. Most people instinctively use tweezers or try to squeeze the stinger out, but flicking it off with a credit card works best to avoid squeezing more poison into the wound.
Once the stinger is removed, wash the area with soap and water. Apply an ice pack to help reduce swelling and numb the pain; a topical antihistamine cream can also alleviate any other unpleasant symptoms.
Some children are severely allergic to bee stings, and unfortunately you usually don’t discover this until the first time they’re stung. If your child complains of pain outside the sting region, if she has difficulty breathing, or if you notice a rash covering her body, she may be experiencing anaphylaxis, which can be a life-threatening allergic reaction. Call 911 immediately.
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
Keep Your Kids Safe in Sports
Of the more than 38 million American kids who play sports, less than 10 percent get seriously injured during practice or a game. But that figure is steadily rising as more kids compete year-round in numerous sports activities.
Growing bones can’t handle the physical demands of so much training and playing. And if damage to bones, muscles and tendons doesn’t have a chance to fully heal, it leads to overuse injuries, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The most dangerous sport is football, which sends 1 million kids under the age of 18 to hospitals, emergency rooms and doctors’ offices, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Soccer is next (with 370,000 visits), and cheerleading (with 75,000 injuries) is the leading cause of serious injury to girls.
To protect your kids from serious sports injuries, prevention is key. Make sure they consistently use proper gear, do warm-up and cool-down exercises, and use facilities that are well-maintained. Check that their coaches are trained in first aid and CPR, or that there is a certified athletic trainer on site to provide immediate care that will put your kids back in the game – without further injury.
But if an accident does occur, be prepared. Here’s how to spot and treat the most common injuries in kids’ sports:
Sprains and Strains
- What they are: Sprains occur when ligaments, the tissue that connects two or more bones, are stretched or torn. Ankle sprains are the most common sports injury, according to the National Institutes of Health. Strains occur when muscles or tendons are stretched or torn.
- What they look like: Symptoms include pain, swelling, bruising and difficulty moving the joint. Strains may also cause muscle spasms.
- What to do: Give them rest, ice, compression and elevation. That usually works for mild injuries, but more serious ones may require surgery, according to the Mayo Clinic. See a doctor if your child can’t walk more than four steps without feeling a lot of pain or numbness, or if he has redness or streaks coming out from the injured site.
Growth Plate Injuries
- What they are: Growth plates are areas of developing tissue at the end of the long bones (hands, forearms, upper and lower legs, and feet). Eventually the plates are replaced by solid bone, but in the meantime, they are particularly vulnerable to injury.
- What to do: See an orthopedic surgeon immediately.
Repetitive Motion Injuries
- What they are: Injuries caused by the overuse of muscles and tendons, such as stress fractures (tiny cracks in the bone) and tendinitis (the inflammation of a tendon).
- What they look like: You can’t always see these injuries on X-rays, but they cause a lot of pain and discomfort. Tendinitis causes tenderness, swelling and a dull ache. Stress fractures cause pain and swelling that increases with activity, and tenderness in a specific spot.
- What to do: Rest the injured area, apply ice or compression, and elevate it. See a doctor if the pain persists even at rest; your child may need crutches, an immobilizing cast, physical therapy or even surgery.
A Little Change & Prep Now, A Year of Safety for Your Family
Greetings to all and I hope everyone is having a great 2023 thus far. It’s hard to believe we are already in March, and with the month of March comes the beginning of spring and a time for change and preparation.
As the saying around the firehouse goes: when the clocks change, its time to change the batteries in all of your detectors in your home, whether they be smoke or gas detectors.
A properly functioning detector is key in the safety of you and your family in early trouble detection from smoke, flames and harmful gases in your home day and night. So please do not put this off, it only takes a few minutes and can make all the difference in the world and while you are at it, maybe you can make a fun family fire drill out of testing your new batteries in your detectors.
The preparation part of what I would like to talk about is the fact the spring is here and that means that summer is rapidly approaching. With summer comes the kids being home, at camp and almost assuredly being around water a lot more than the rest of the year. I cannot stress enough the importance of water safety and preparedness. Enrolling children in swimming lessons or teaching them yourself now is a great way to give them added protection for the summer months ahead. It is an all too common occurrence in the summer that children have near drowning or complete drowning events in pools or lakes and in many of these cases the child was not taught how to swim. Please contact a local instructor or organization in your area and arm your child with the ability to swim and in the mean time get some good fun quality time together.
Thank you and I wish you health and happiness.
Are Used Bike Helmets Safe to Buy for Kids?
It’s important to insist that your kids wear bike helmets. Research shows that wearing one while riding reduces a child’s risk of brain injury by 88 percent. But, the truth is, it’s best to buy a bike helmet new. It could have been damaged in a crash — even if you don’t see cracks — and might not be able to withstand another one. When purchasing a helmet, look for the CPSC seal, which means it meets the standards of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
The helmet should sit flat on top of your child’s head and be snug enough so that it doesn’t slide down over the eyes when pushed or pulled. The chin strap should be snug. Many kids wear their helmets loose and tipped back, exposing their foreheads. But this doubles their chances of suffering a serious head injury.
Never buy a helmet that’s too big so that your child can “grow into it.” It might not protect him in an accident.
For a guide to exactly how a bike helmet should fit your child, download these instructions on fitting your bike helmet from the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Arts & Crafts and Poison Control: How to Keep Kids Safe
Did you ever notice how delicious some of those colored markers smell? Ever tempted to taste one? Ok, admit it…you’d never do it, but still you can’t say you haven’t at least thought about it. So, can we blame the 4 year old who thinks that the blueberry marker might just taste as good as it smells?
Unfortunately we sometimes forget that those pretty colored paints and crayons and markers look and smell so good because they’re made up of chemicals that are designed to make them look and smell good. And because little kids are attracted to bright, colorful things, and love to touch and taste (who doesn’t), we need to be extra cautious to make sure that glues, paints, crayons and other arts and crafts supplies are handled with care.
According to the Minnesota Poison Control: In a single year, the nation’s 57 poison control centers received more than 35,000 calls about exposures to art products; of these, more than 26,000 calls concerned children younger than 6. And the Virginia Poison Center highlights this list of art supplies to keep an eye on:
- Chalk contains calcium, and swallowing some typically does not cause poisoning. More serious problems can occur if the chalk lodges in the throat or is breathed into the windpipe, blocking the airway and causing coughs, difficulty breathing, or wheezing.
- Water-soluble markers usually don’t cause harm. Most other felt-tip markers don’t cause poisoning if small amounts of the ink are swallowed. A few markers may contain aniline dyestuffs, which, if a large amount is swallowed, can be poisonous.
- Erasers are not considered poisonous but could cause blockage or injury if lodged in the throat or breathed into the windpipe.
- School-type glues (such as Elmer’s®) generally are considered nonpoisonous. “Super glues” (such as Krazy Glue®) do not cause serious poisoning if a mouthful is swallowed; however, they cause mucous membranes and skin surfaces to stick together instantly. If “super glue” gets into the eye, the eyelids can be sealed together, resulting in lid injury and loss of lashes. Worse, “super glue” can cause serious damage to the eye’s cornea.
- If children swallow small amounts of water-based paint – including latex, tempera and poster paint – poisoning is not likely. Some latex paints do contain measurable amounts (5-10%) of glycols, so poisoning could happen if someone swallows a very large amount. Oil-based paints contain solvents that can cause acute poisoning if swallowed.
The National Capital Poison Center recommends the following safety tips:
- Read the label carefully, and follow all instructions for safe use and disposal.
- Discard products that have passed their expiration dates.
- Don’t eat or drink while using art products.
- Wash up – skin, equipment and environment – after use.
- Never use products to paint skin or decorate food unless the product is specifically labeled for that use.
- Store art products in their original containers locked up and out of the reach of children.
- Handle art products in accordance with your program’s guidelines for safe chemical use and storage.
Virginia Poison Center also suggests that “when choosing art supplies for use by children, consider the product’s certification. Many art supplies are imprinted with the seals of the Arts and Crafts Materials Institute. Products with the AP (Approved Product) seal are best for use by young children. Products with the CL (Cautionary Label) Seal are more appropriate for adult use.”
Finally…always better safe than sorry.
If a young artist eats a crayon or some glue, or gets paint in their eyes…OR …you’re simply unsure whether or not your child has been exposed to (or eaten) a toxic level of art supplies, use
- the webPOISONCONTROL® online tool for guidance or
- call your local poison center at 1-800-222-1222 for advice or information.
For a more detailed description of arts and crafts Do’s and Don’ts, here is the official Art and Craft Safety Guide from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
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Some time ago, Audra, one of our editors, shared with us her story about her wonderful experience with “edible play dough.” What about you?? Ever called poison control for an arts and crafts mishap?
