Summer Safety: Lawn Mower Edition
In just a few weeks the school year will come to a close and thousands of children across the country will take on a familiar chore: Mowing the lawn. Safety is always a priority, and three national medical organizations are warning families that the routine task of lawn mowing can be extremely dangerous to children, the operator, and those nearby if proper safety precautions aren't taken. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), in 2012 more than 234,000 people were treated for lawn mower-related injuries in a clinic or emergency department, or were admitted to the hospital. More than 17,900 of them are children under age 18, and approximately one-third of lawn mower-related injuries are serious enough to be treated in an emergency department. "Every year at this time, children can be seen operating or playing around lawn mowers in unsafe ways. In thousands of yards, injuries will occur, and a beautiful summer day will become a painful occasion," says American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) President Thomas K. McInerny , MD, FAAP. "We want parents and kids to be more aware of precautions to take so that injuries can be prevented." Lawn mower injury prevention tips include:
Source: OrthoInfo.org. |
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