(June 21, 2010)  School’s out. Sun and fun are the order of the day for your child. But, summer is also a prime time for injuries, so it’s important to plan leisure time with safety in mind.

Accidents to children under the age of 14 increases by as much as 20 percent during the summer, children love summer when they’re out of school, it stays light later and they can play for hours and hours. But, with so many working parents, it’s important to arrange supervised activities for your child or make sure your older child knows and obeys safety rules.

Swings & Slides:

• If you have a play set, cover areas around the equipment with a 9 – 12 inch layer of shock-absorbing material such as sand, rubber or mulch.
• Make sure the set hasn’t been damaged by the harsh winter. Check any steps or ladders and make sure safety rails are in place and secure.
• Keep ropes and cords off the playset since they can break under a child’s weight or pose a strangulation risk.
• Check for tripping hazards in the area and remove or fence off stumps, concrete footings and rocks.
• Cover protruding bolts.

Arsenic in pressure-treated wood (used in play sets, decks and picnic tables until 2003) poses an increased risk of cancer to children who play around or eat on the treated wood surfaces. (Splinters from arsenic treated wood can be dangerous as well.) Replace arsenic-treated wood in high traffic areas like handrails and steps and/or seal the wood with deck treatments once a year. Don’t use a pressure washer on arsenic-treated wood because it accelerates leaching of the poison onto nearby objects and the ground. The leaching process also occurs naturally when it rains, so keep children and pets away from the area immediately around or under any arsenic-treated wood. Cover picnic tables that may contain arsenic-treated wood with a table cloth before use.

Bicycle Safety

• Make sure your child knows -- and follows -- the rules of the road.
• Obey traffic signs and ride on the right side of the street traveling in the same direction as the auto traffic.
• Always stop and look both ways before crossing an intersection or entering a street.
• Supervise riders under the age of 10.
• Don’t let your child ride at dusk or sunset, or after dark.
• Provide your child with a properly fitting bicycle helmet and insist that it be worn every time, no matter how short the ride. About 75 percent of cycling injuries and deaths could be prevented by helmets.
• If you’re going to be carrying a child with you on a bike, use a bicycle-mounted safety seat with harness and safety belt and put a spoke cover on the back tire.
• Equip your young passenger with a safety helmet.
• Don’t ride with a child under the age of nine months.
• Never carry the child in a backpack or front carrier.

Water Safety

• Never let your child swim without adult supervision.
• If you take a baby into the water, don’t let it go under. Infants nine months of age and younger have an automatic swallowing reflex and can quickly swallow enough liquid to trigger a seizure.
• Teach your child to swim. However, even a skilled swimmer can quickly get into trouble, so constant adult supervision is still required.
• Before diving at a lake, check the water for adequate depth as well as logs or other submerged dangers. Rainfall, currents, drought and other factors affect the underwater landscape, so check the water on each visit before diving in.
• Water is a great conductor of lightning, so never swim during thunderstorms.
• Wear a life jacket when riding in a boat. Currents and cold water temperatures can easily exhaust even an experienced swimmer.

Insects and Poisonous Plants

• For a trip to wooded areas, cover as much skin area as possible with close-fitting clothes. Tuck long pants into socks and apply insect repellent to clothes. (If you must use repellent on the skin, apply it sparingly.) After the outing, check for ticks. If you do find a tick, remove it by grabbing it with tweezers as close to the skin as possible. Gently pull it out, making sure you get the head. Clean the area with soap and water.
• If your child is stung by a bee, remove the stinger by scraping a fingernail or credit card over the skin. Don’t try to grasp and pull the stinger out since this can release toxins from the venom sac. Apply a cold compress to reduce swelling and use a paste of baking soda and water to soothe itching. If swelling is excessive or affects breathing, seek emergency help.
• Learn to recognize poison ivy by its three glossy green leaves and teach your child to identify and avoid it. If you think your child has been exposed to poison ivy, immediately bathe with soap and water and launder clothing in hot water. Clean any toys or yard tools that may have been in contact with the poison ivy.