Injury is preventable, so we talk about how to keep ourselves healthy with injury prevention activities. Preventing injuries is an important way to improve our overall health and wellness. Even a small injury can have long term impacts on our ability to live, learn, work and play. Many of us think that injuries are a result of ‘accidents’ that cannot be avoided; in fact, most injuries are predictable and preventable.
Tips for Staying Safe and Preventing Injury
- Clear the floor: Remove tripping hazards inside and around your home.
- Helmets for heads: A properly fitted helmet can decrease the risk of serious head injury by over 80%.
- Get in gear: Use the proper equipment for the task at hand.
- Dress to be seen: When walking or biking, wear brightly coloured clothing so drivers can see you.
- Safety checklist: Before starting even a short trip in bad weather, check your car’s lights, heater, wiper blades, antifreeze and gas tank.
- Charge up: Check the batteries in your smoke detectors at least once a year.
- Take your time: Whether you are changing a tire, painting a house, or moving furniture, taking your time can prevent injury. Rushing leads to carelessness and errors.
- Buckle up: Everyone should wear seat belts. Make sure children are in size and age appropriate certified car seats or booster seats.
- Sit up straight: When you are sitting at your desk, avoid injury by positioning yourself properly at your computer. Your screen should be two feet away from you.
Children’s Injury Prevention
Injuries are the leading cause of death and disability to children in the Bangladesh. Our program educates kids and their families about safety and offers items to increase safety practices in the community.
Fire Safety
• Install smoke alarms in every bedroom, outside each sleeping area and on every level of the home.
• Test smoke alarms once a month, and change batteries once a year and if the alarm chirps because the battery is low.
• Have two exits out of every room.
• Make and practice an escape plan with your family. Choose a safe meeting place outside.
Child Passenger Safety
• Children should be properly restrained on every trip,
every time.
• Keep your child in the backseat.
• Use the best safety restraint for your child’s size. See page 3 of this book for more details provided by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
• Always have your child safety seat inspected to make sure it is installed correctly
Bike Safety
• Wear a properly fitted helmet at all times when biking or skating.
• Ride in the same direction as traffic, on the far right side of the road.
• Use hand signals when making turns, and walk your bike across the street.
• Use reflectors on your bike, and wear bright colors to help others see you.
Pedestrian Safety
• Children under 10 should never cross the street alone. Hold an adult’s hand when crossing.
• Make sure you look left, right and left again before crossing the street.
• Don’t enter the street from between parked cars or behind bushes or shrubs.
• Cross streets at a corner in the crosswalk.
• When there are no sidewalks, walk facing traffic, as far to the left as possible.
Water Safety
• When you are not in the bathtub, the bathroom door should be closed.
• Always make sure you have a grown-up in the room when you are taking a bath.
• Babies should never be allowed in bathrooms or bathtubs alone.
• Grown-ups and kids should always wear life vests when they are in a boat or near water.
• Make sure your life vest fits you!