Keeping your children out of danger in the home

By Maria Endah Hulupi

JAKARTA (JP): Wati, a housewife, could not forgive herself for her carelessness when heating water to bathe her three-month-old baby girl.

"I was pouring some of the boiling water into a thermos when I accidentally knocked the thermos over and the boiling water showered my baby, who was right next to it," she said through tears recently at the emergency unit of Atma Jaya Hospital in North Jakarta.

Nurses were busy cleaning the blistering wounds all over the baby's body, while Wati's parents tried unsuccessfully to calm her down.

Wati's case is just one of the common accidents in the home that can affect a child.

Chairman of the National Board of the Indonesian Society of Pediatricians Jose Batubara warned that each part of the home posed specific dangers to children.

He underlined the need for prevention through caution and by ensuring constant monitoring of a baby and other children by adult members in the family.

"Most of the accidents can be prevented but often occur due to carelessness on the part of the parents or baby-sitters," explained the pediatrician from Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital in Central Jakarta.

He identified common types of injuries suffered by small children, ranging from slight bruising to serious ones like cuts or burns. The degree of accidents ranged from falls, to fatal accidents in the garage or kitchen.

Jose warned parents that their children should not be left playing alone in the yard, especially around prickly plants, stairways, holes in the garden, yard equipment and fish ponds or pools.

The presence of an adult is important to prevent accidents in the garage, especially when parking the car or driving the car out of the garage.

Jose also warned of possible burns and other injuries in the guest room and living room. Such accidents usually stem from falls, furniture or just a child's curiosity to explore their surroundings.

Children, especially those starting to walk, love to explore their surroundings by touching or pulling objects around them, or putting them in their mouth.

"It can be dangerous if children touch dangerous objects, like electrical sockets or get hurt due to broken ceramic fragments after they yank a tablecloth from a table," he said.

While in their own room, a common injury is falling. "Mothers think that bordering their babies's beds with pillows is secure enough to prevent them from falling, but this flimsy border can easily fall off of the bed, especially if the baby starts moving by rolling over," Jose said.

He advised that babies can be left alone with their cots properly secured to prevent them from falling or to put mattresses on the floor to minimize injury if they fall.

As in the garage, children should not be left alone in the kitchen. "Most accidents in the kitchen result in burns and cuts due to spills from cooking and boiling water and physical contact with hot electric equipment like ovens and stoves or sharp cooking utensils," he said.

Provide protection for children when they are in a wet area like the bathroom, kitchen and terrace, especially after watering the garden. "It is better to keep these areas dry or to use antislip mats," Jose said.

He also urged parents to keep household cleaners -- that can lead to poisoning and skin irritation -- out of children's reach.

It is also important to monitor children when playing near an unfenced pool or street.

When accidents do occur, Jose instructs parents that the best thing they can do is to clean the injuries with first aid medications. Never allow the wounds to heal by themselves.

"We often treat children with unclean burn injuries, covered with coffee, margarine or tooth paste, which expose children to infections. These things happen because parents assume they can heal such injuries with those items," Jose said, adding that soaking the blister in cold water can help soothe the burning sensation, before taking them to a doctor.

After a fall, check indications of possible serious injuries like broken bones, manifested in movement irregularities and pain.

Serious head trauma can be followed by frequent vomiting, loss of or disturbed consciousness. Children should be monitored to see if they seem to have concentration problems or appear sleepy.

Parents are also advised to master lifesaving techniques such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) which can be applied before paramedics arrive. This is especially important if the child stops breathing or the heart stops beating in the case of smoke inhalation or drowning.

It is also important to keep first aid and basic over-the- counter medicines handy. Basic first aid items should include cotton wool, mercurochrome, alcohol 70 percent, adhesive plaster, influenza medicines and rehydration solution. Do not forget to check the expiry dates.