Keeping our children safe

Burns are a leading cause of death and injury to young children in South Africa. It has been estimated that one fifth of all deaths in children under the age of one year is as a result of burns. According to experts, the numbers of cases among children could be reduced if parents had a greater awareness of burns and what steps they can take to protect their youngsters from such injuries.

At the Government Employees Medical Scheme (GEMS) we encourage our members to take control of their family's health and wellbeing. Burns Awareness Week, which is from 6 to 12 May this year, is held every year to make people aware of the important challenge that burns pose in South Africa and to look at how these injuries can be prevented from occurring.

As we head towards our winter season once more we should keep in mind that this is a time when more South Africans are burnt, according to the experts. This is because there are more accidents involving fire and electricity as people try to stay warm.

Burns may be caused in a number of different ways including from fire, gas explosions, electricity and chemicals. Hot substances such as boiling water may be especially dangerous for children.

Every year thousands of South Africans are burnt by fires that are caused in various ways including by knocked over paraffin lamps and candles, cooking accidents (such as fat fires), heaters that have been left on unattended and poorly or incorrectly wired electricity.

Serious burns are very painful and can cause disfiguring injuries. People who have been seriously burnt, particularly children, are usually also very traumatised. Many burn victims require months in hospital to assist them in their recovery.

Most serious burn victims today can be saved if they are treated properly and quickly at a specialised medical burns unit. For this reason it is important to get anyone who has suffered a severe burn to be taken to a hospital as soon as possible. Each burns case is very different as people are burnt in different areas of their bodies and some burns are more serious than others.

Protecting your children

To protect your children parents should be sure to put all hazardous chemicals, lighters and matches out of reach of their little ones. Never to leave youngsters unsupervised around heaters, candles, paraffin lamps or open fires including braais. Avoid leaving your bar and gas heaters on when going to sleep as they may set fire to bedding or other inflammable materials.

One of the most common ways children get seriously burnt is when they scald themselves with hot substances. In some cases youngsters pull hot pots of food or water or a hot beverage on to themselves. Parents can take precautions against this. For example, they can keep their children out of the kitchen and as far as possible cook using the back plates of their stove that cannot be reached by children. One should also take care not to drink hot cups of tea and coffee when with a child and also always keep these out of reach of children.

The emergency services in this country attend to many children who are burnt after falling into hot baths. It is advised that parents rather run the cold water into a bath before the hot to ensure the safety of their little ones.

Some homes have not been properly wired by an electrician and have dangerous electrical cabling lying around, which can cause fires and children to be electrocuted. Get an electrician to wire your home properly and do not do major electrical wiring yourself.

Childsafe, a campaign of the Child Accident Prevention Foundation of Southern Africa, has a number of additional tips to help parents keep their families safe:

• Teach children about the dangers of fire and heat and not to play with matches or lighters. They should understand that they should stay away from anything that can burn including fires and candles;
• Keep matches, candles, lighters and paraffin lamps away from children;
• Never leave a child unattended in a room with an open fire or burning candle or lamp;
• A child may pull a tablecloth off a table along with that hot pot of food. Avoid using tablecloths and rather use tablemats;
• Avoid placing hot liquids and food near the edge of the table or counter top. Always make sure that they are in the middle of the table and out of reach. Never pass hot food or beverages over a child;
• Never try to put out a stove-fire in saucepan with water as this may cause the fire to flare up and spray hot fat around the room. To get the fire under control rather switch off the stove and cover the saucepan with a lid, plate or wet cloth;
• Avoid using leaking or broken gas or paraffin stoves;
• Avoid smoking in bed as bedding can catch alight and start a fire;
• Avoid hanging clothes over a heater or too close to a fire to dry as they may catch fire;
• Avoid pouring inflammable liquids on to a fire, especially when there are children about; and
• Take care not to overload your electrical power points/plugs as this could cause a fire.

References:
Childsafe: http://www.childsafe.org.za/burns.htm
National Burns Association of South Africa: http://www.nbasa.org.za/about/
SA Burns Society: http://www.saburnsociety.org.za/\
WebMD: http://firstaid.webmd.com/tc/burns-prevention