Female Speaker: For a four year old Katie Duerr, summertime is the best time of the year. From splashing around her neighborhood pool to playing out her favorite part, having fun is her number one priority. But her mother Nancy knows safety still comes first, especially when it comes to bike safety.
Nancy Duerr: Katie loves to ride her bicycle, and she knows that before we get on the bike, we have to put on the helmet and the knee pads and the elbow pads, and she knows that's the rule.
Lloyd Brown: Summertime is obviously a great a time for kids. We want kids to be kids and we want kids to have fun, yet children really need to be protected.
Female Speaker: Use of a plastic safety helmet can reduce the risk the of brain injury by as much as 85%. While safety starts with appropriate plastic safety gear, including a light-weight helmet, knee, and elbow pads, it doesn't end there, it's important to review the rules of the road and to supervise children. According to pediatrician Dr. Lloyd Brown, summertime can be the most dangerous time of the year.
Lloyd Brown: A substantial number of injuries, and that's occurred during this time when most kids are out on vacation and having fun.
Female Speaker: And while children like Katie love to swim, water can pose another major danger. Every year thousands of children are treated in hospital emergency rooms following near drowning accidents. Here are some tips to keep your child safe around the water this summer.
Do not let your child play around any water without adult supervision even if he is a good swimmer. Insist on a safety approved life jacket while boating, waterskiing, jet skiing or tubing. Child proof your swimming pool with a fence around your backyard and a fence at least 4 feet high, around all four sides of the pool with a self-closing self-latching gate.
Keep rescue equipment and a portable telephone near the pool. Learn CPR in case of emergencies. Remember, although swimming lessons are a great way to teach children how to swim, they are not for children under four years old.
Lloyd Brown: Most people including American Academy of Pediatrics believes that true swimming lessons for a child probably ought not to begin until age four years. Those swimming lessons conducted before are really more for fun, motor skills, and development.
Tracie Lowe: Swimming lessons help the child to be comfortable in the water as well as if the parents would observe swimming lessons, it teaches parents that aren't familiar with swimming techniques something to practice at home with the child.
Female Speaker: There is another potential danger lurking in many backyards, fire. Burns can cause significant injuries to our children during the summertime. Grills, campfires, and fireworks all can be dangerous. But, fire is not the only thing that can burn your child's skin; sun exposure can cause severe burns as well, and increase the risk of developing skin cancer.
Lloyd Brown: Parents just need to know the simple steps, that extra couple of minutes that they lie there on the sunscreen on their child or dress their child appropriately, will save them a lot of damage down the line.
Female Speaker: Here is how to protect your child from the damaging effects of the sun. Wear protective clothing including a hat, long sleeve shirt, and long hats. Keep in mind that most clothing only has an SPF of five to nine. So you can still get sun damage with a shirt on. Use a sunscreen with an SPF or sun protection factor of 15 or greater. Protect your child's eyes with sunglasses that protect against UVA and UVB radiation. Nancy knows the importance of sunscreen when it comes to protecting Katie's skin.
Nancy Duerr: I make sure that Katie is wearing at least 30 SPF preferably 45 sunscreen. It's a rule in the house. She doesn't go out in the sun unless she put sunscreen on. I try to get her to wear a hat. It's not as easy as it was when she was younger, but whenever she is going to spend extended periods of time out in the sun I make sure that she wears a hat.
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