INFORMATION FOR ADULTS - MEGAN'S LAW
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Learn how to protect your family from predatorsDo sexual predators live in your neighborhood, or in areas frequented by your family or friends?. Learn how to locate them, and what to do to protect yourself and others at the Megan's law Web site. This free information site shows the location of predators in relationship to parks, schools, and where you live.
Note: A link at the bottom of the home page will take you to a disclaimer that you must read before researching predators in your neighborhood. After you have read the disclaimer page, check the box at the bottom of that page, and you will be taken to the site.
Summer Safety For Children - July 2009
Don't Take A Vacation From Safety
While summer is a memorable time for most children, be more cautious as your children are spending less time in the classroom and more time going swimming, bike riding, or playing in the backyard.
Your kids love summer! But did you know that summer is the most dangerous time of the year for kids? Children will be rushed to emergency rooms nearly 3 million times this summer during "trauma season" from May to August. The greatest summertime risks include motor vehicle crashes, drownings, bike crashes, pedestrian incidents, falls and other hazards. Sadly, more than 2,000 of these children will die, unless we share information about protecting kids with our families, neighbors and friends. Don’t let your child be one of them!
Follow these simple tips with your family to protect your children from the top summertime risks:
- Actively supervise your child when engaging in summertime activities, such as swimming and playing on playgrounds and backyards.
- Use the appropriate safety gear for your child’s activities, such as a helmet for wheeled sports and sporting activities, a car seat or booster seat as appropriate, and a life jacket for open water swimming and boating.
- Role model proper safety behavior. Children are more likely to follow safety rules when they see their parents doing so.
- If you have a pool or a spa, it should be surrounded on all four sides by a fence at least four feet high with self-closing, self-latching gates, and it should be equipped with an anti-entrapment drain cover and safety vacuum release system. An inflatable pool needs to be surrounded by a fence, just like any other pool, and parents need to empty these pools when not in use.
- Make sure your home playground is safe. Keep 12 inches safe surfacing, such as mulch, shredded rubber or fine sand, extending at least six feet in all directions around the equipment. Remove hood and neck drawstrings from your child’s clothing.
- Keep children away from the grill area while preheating and cooking, and while the grill is cooling.
- Remove potential poisons from your yard, including poisonous plants, pesticides and pool chemicals.
- Walk all the way around a parked vehicle to check for children before entering a car and starting the motor. Don’t let children play in driveways, streets, parking lots or unfenced yards adjacent to busy streets.
- Apply sunscreen rated SPF 45 or higher to your child’s exposed skin 15 to 30 minutes before going out, and reapply frequently.
- Make sure your child drinks plenty of water. A child who seems tired or achy should rest in the shade or go inside for a while. Get immediate medical help any time a child’s skin is hot to the touch (with or without perspiration), if a child has a seizure, or if they become disoriented in hot weather.
Active supervision, proper protective gear, and other simple prevention steps will help your child avoid danger.
For more information on child safety visit www.safekids.org