Beware of Falling Furniture

Last updated on March 3rd, 2018 at 11:11 am

Be honest. Most of us do not consider the furniture in our homes or even the television to be dangerous to our children. The kids run and play and laugh and occasionally knock over a chair or bump into a desk or fall off the furniture but that seems to be the extent of our worry when it comes to furniture. Well according to a new study furniture related injuries are on the rise and if your kids are anything like mine, we have some work to do.

According to the study conducted by the U.S Consumer Product Safety Commission, most furniture tip-over-related injuries occurred among children younger than 7 years of age and resulted from televisions tipping over. More than one quarter of the injuries occurred when children pulled over or climbed on furniture. Children ages 10-17 years were more likely to suffer injuries from desks, cabinets or bookshelves tipping over. Head and neck injuries were most common among younger children, while children older than 9 years were more likely to suffer injuries to the lower body.

Despite warnings from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the number of injuries involving televisions and other furniture tipping over onto children has increased in this country since the early 1990s.

“There was a more than 40 percent increase in the number of injuries during the study period, and the injury rate also significantly increased during these years,” said study senior author Gary Smith, MD, DrPH, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. “This trend demonstrates the inadequacy of current prevention strategies and underscores the need for increased prevention efforts.”

So what can we as parents do? Parents can minimize risks to children by placing televisions low to the ground and near the back of their stands and strapping televisions and furniture to the wall with safety straps or L-brackets. Purchasing furniture with wide legs or with solid bases, installing drawer stops on chests of drawers and placing heavy items close to the floor on shelves will also help prevent tip-overs. Additionally, parents can reduce a child’s desire to climb furniture by not placing attractive items, such as toys or the remote control, high on top of furniture or the television.

Caregivers and even those of us in the emergency medicine field should be aware that furniture tip-overs are an important source of childhood injury and that education geared towards simple prevention steps will decrease the number of injuries to children associated with furniture tip-overs.”

IKEA High Chairs Recalled Due to Fall Hazard

Last updated on March 3rd, 2018 at 11:21 am

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada has announced a recall of IKEA ANTILOP High Chairs due to a problem with the high chair’s belt buckle which can unlatch unexpectedly and potentially cause a child to fall out of the chair. So far there have been eight reports of falls due to the unexpected opening of the belt buckle and three of those children sustained minor injuries as a result of falling.

IKEA has voluntarily recalled the ANTILOP High Chairs to prevent further falls and to repair the problem with the buckles. The recalled high chairs were sold in IKEA stores nationwide from August 2006 through January 2010 for about $20.

ANTILOP high chairs sold with red, blue or white plastic high chair seats with detachable silver-colored metal legs and manufactured between 0607 and 0911 (YYMM format) from supplier number 17389 are included in the recall. Look underneath the seat for the production date and supplier number, which are molded into the underside of the seat. A label on the underside of the seat has the words “ANTILOP,” “IKEA” and the model number.

The following model numbers are included in this recall:

IKEA ANTILOP high chair blue Model # 701.467.92
IKEA ANTILOP high chair red Model # 501.467.93
IKEA ANTILOP high chair white Model # 300.697.24

If you own one of these high chairs, you should immediately stop using it and contact IKEA to obtain a free replacement seat restraint.

For additional information, contact IKEA toll-free at (866) 966-4532 anytime, or visit the firm’s website at www.ikea-usa.com.

Home Treadmill Hazards for Kids – Expect the Unexpected

Last updated on September 4th, 2015 at 08:51 pm

We had a holiday open house on New Year’s Day: several families from the neighborhood, school and Cub Scouts – with mulled wine and hot chocolate to chase away the winter blues. It was a lot of fun, but my son was disappointed that none of his best friends could make it. In fact, no boys came – only girls. Despite this initial set back, the kids started to mingle – aided by a few activities and the display of newly acquired Christmas presents. Before I even had a chance to worry about boredom setting in, the kids had migrated downstairs to the TV/playroom to watch a holiday movie.

Things in the basement went well for some time – confirmed by occasional checks. But near the end of the festivities they must have gotten antsy – and we heard some loud crashes and telltale wails. The basement also has a workout area and – despite a long-standing restriction on unsupervised use – they had started to play on our treadmill.

Somehow Elliott ended up with a big friction burn on his shoulder from the treadmill belt – and one of the younger girls had fallen off and banged her head. Apparently these are common types of childhood injuries involving motorized treadmills. About.com reports that some friction injuries have been so bad that occasionally children have required skin grafts or plastic surgery!

I felt terrible that this happened – and at our house. That said, the girl’s mother informed me that they have a home treadmill too – and she’s also been told not to use it. Somehow power and curiosity overcame the parental restrictions. But apparently this situation isn’t uncommon. The Australian government became so concerned about home treadmill injuries to kids that in 2008 they issued a product safety alert and began a public awareness campaign. The key recommendations for parents are to place the treadmill in a separate room that children can’t access – or surround the machine with child barriers to ensure that they don’t try to touch or climb on the machine when it’s in use, which can happen before you notice. Even a short duration of contact can result in injuries to little ones. About.com provides additional guidance on home treadmill safety measures to minimize potential hazards.

Of course, fitness equipment like treadmills also comes with built-in safety features. There’s usually a safety clip and cord that should be worn by the user while running. If the runner stumbles or falls the clip disengages and the belt stops. Additionally, the machine won’t start without the safety clip in place – which is key to securing the machine from unsupervised use by children. However, kids can be very ingenious….our son realized that the clip attached to the machine via a magnet – and determined that he could bypass the clip using the magnetized crane winch from his Thomas the Tank Engine train set! Even your best safety plans can be undermined by the curiosity of kids. In cases like this, what is a parent to do?? Certainly, consequences for disobeying the restriction on using the treadmill can help – but I think the pain of his injury was a stronger lesson. I just hope he doesn’t always have to learn the hard way.

Halloween Pumpkin Carving Safety Tips

Last updated on October 6th, 2015 at 01:10 am

Halloween is a fun time of costumes, candy, and carving of pumpkins. Unfortunately, one little slip and that fun could be over and you might be rushing to the emergency room.

Accidental lacerations and puncture wounds to the hands and fingers are common injuries seen in emergency rooms around the country during this time of year due to Halloween pumpkin carving. Some of these injuries require surgery and months of rehabilitation, such as the injury Brad Gruner, starting quarterback for the University of New Mexico, suffered last Halloween when he sliced a tendon in the pinkie of his throwing hand and was out for the rest of the season.

If you’ve ever carved a pumpkin before, you know from experience how slippery and tough they can be. It is all too easy for a knife to slip or for it to go through the skin and out the other side where your other hand might be holding it steady. Do yourself (and your family) a favor and follow a couple of safety tips this year to prevent an accident.

Leave the carving to the adults. Kids under the age of 14 should not do the actual carving or cutting. They can draw on the pumpkin the design they want it to have but let an adult carve it.

Use special pumpkin carving tools instead of kitchen knives. Pumpkin carving kits are easy to find in most stores in the weeks before Halloween. These tools are usually smaller, less sharp, and easier to control than a kitchen knife and less likely to cause a laceration or puncture wound. Make sure to use a well-lit, stable, dry surface to work on. Keep hands and tools clean and dry to minimize slips. While carving, leave the top on so you don’t stick your hand inside the pumpkin and risk cutting it.

Decorate your pumpkins without carving them. There are many ways to decorate a pumpkin that do not require risking an injury. Kids can use markers, paint, and even glue on embellishments to create a fun or scary pumpkin design.

Have a safe and Happy Halloween!

Sources:

Safe Halloween pumpkin carving

Halloween Safety Tips That Are No Trick

Hand Surgeons Warn of Pumpkin Carving Dangers

BAM! Body and Mind: Making health education fun for kids

Last updated on March 28th, 2018 at 11:52 pm

 As parents, we know it is important for kids to learn about health, wellness, and how their bodies work so they can lead healthy lives as kids and as adults. Schools usually include some health education into their curriculum but parents still have a responsibility to provide further instruction. The challenge lies in how to do that in a fun, engaging way so kids actively learn the information and can then actually apply what they learn. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC), which is an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has created an online educational website devoted to helping parents and educators teach health education in just such a way.

The CDC’s website for kids ages 9-13 years old is named BAM! Body and Mind and according to the website’s description:

“gives them the information they need to make healthy lifestyle choices. The site focuses on topics that kids told us are important to them — such as stress and physical fitness — using kid-friendly lingo, games, quizzes, and other interactive features.

BAM! Body and Mind also serves as an aid to teachers, providing them with interactive, educational, and fun activities that are linked to the national education standards for science and health.“

Using BAM!, kids can learn about various diseases, food and nutrition, physical activity and fitness, safety, how bodies work, and how to handle emotions and stress. One of the coolest features is the KABAM! Comic Creator which allows the user to make choices for the characters in the comic and solve problems the characters are facing, such as peer pressure and bullying. This interactive tool puts the user in control and helps kids learn how to make smart and safe decisions and learn problem-solving skills.

BAM! also allows kids a place to tell the CDC what they want to learn about on the site and their suggestions for improving the site. Kudos to the Centers for Disease Control for designing this excellent online learning tool for kids, parents, and teachers.

In the beginning, the PMD story: “Dying to Save the Lives of Kids”

Last updated on March 12th, 2018 at 10:17 am

I think it’s time…

PMD or Pediatric Medical Devices has been 15 years in the making. …or rather 15 years of my life. I kept thinking well when everything is done…when the PedREST finally comes out to the market…when we actually save a child’s life…then I’ll tell my story. But that hasn’t happened…at least not yet… and there’s no guarantee of when it will… so I think it’s time to tell this story to the best of my ability and hope someone gets to hear it…

I probably should tell anyone who decides to stop by and read this that this is not “light reading” for a slow weekend. As I said at the start, it’s been 15 years. What I didn’t say was that during those 15 years, I’ve had someone close to me try and take controlling interest of the company,  licensing negotiations fall through at the eleventh hour and trusted industry professionals  “borrow” our ideas.

Truth be told it hasn’t been all bad.  Because of this journey I’ve met some wonderful, truly selfless people without whom I would have lost faith a long time ago.  And I founded this community – something I am very proud of…

But I’m getting ahead of myself.  To really tell this right I need to go back to when it all began – September of 1995 when an EMT – my little sister – invented something she believed would save the lives of kids.  I’m not going to retell her story since it’s already been told here.  What I will say is that it started with a simple concept drawing on construction paper.  Then in July of 1996 she came and asked me for my help…could I make her dream a reality?  Of course I could…or so I thought.

People will always tell you things like …never give up…  believe in your dreams and they’ll become a reality, …even “build it and they will come”.  You know the sayings…and I listened to all of them.  Bringing a new product to market is never easy…it’s also not inexpensive (as I soon discovered).  It doesn’t care that the US has gone to war, or that we’re in a recession, or even that the job that pays the bills has come to a standstill.  You just have to keep going and make tradeoffs…what will you give up this month so you can pay the attorneys, the engineers, the prototype guy?  But you can only give so much before it crushes you and at one point it almost crushed me.

I am stronger now and rebuilding my life.  And I think that’s why it feels like the right time to share this.   … maybe someone can benefit from my mistakes …maybe someone who’s going through something like I did can take courage in knowing it is possible to come out the other side.  For whatever it’s worth…my story begins here…   until next week…thanks for listening…

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