Summer Health Tips
Bicycle Safety
Knowing the rules of bicycle safety is important so your child can avoid a serious injury. Here are some facts about bicycle injuries:
- Children ages 5 to 14 have a higher rate of bicycle injuries than older riders.
- Bicycle injuries in younger children most often result from errors they have made.
- Injuries to the face and head are the most severe injuries for bicyclists.
- Fatal injuries are most often caused when a cyclist crosses an intersection without looking for cars, or by drivers who have been using alcohol.
- Children are at risk for injury no matter where they are riding. One study found the same severity of injuries among children bicycling in their own neighborhood as older children using the bicycle as a means of transportation.
If your child is learning to ride or already rides a bicycle, here are several safety points that you should consider.
Know the Rules
Bicycle rules need to be appropriate for the age of the child. Children should not ride in the street until they demonstrate a good understanding and ability to follow the rules of bicycling.
General safety rules:
- Always wear a helmet.
- Always wear protective shoes (no bare feet or sandals).
- Avoid riding at dusk or at night. If a child must ride at night, proper bicycle lights and reflective clothing are important.
- Never carry another passenger on the bicycle.
Street safety rules:
- Ride in a single file and only in the direction of traffic.
- Ride in a straight line while near the curb.
- Always obey stoplights and stop signs.
- Never assume that the driver of a car sees you at an intersection.
- Use good balance and steering, proper hand signals, and brakes safely.
- Get off the bicycle safely.
- Look behind you when you turn across a traffic lane.
Children frequently do not learn or have the skills needed to ride on the street until age 10. Even after this age, you should periodically check your child's skills. Check to see if your child pays attention to potential obstacles or dangers such as rocks, tree limbs, and cars exiting driveways or alleys.
Wear a Bicycle Helmet
Helmets are very effective in reducing the risk of serious head injury or death as a result of bicycle accidents. Get a bicycle helmet before your child takes his first bicycle ride. Even a child riding in a bicycle carrier should wear a helmet. A child should always wear a helmet every time she gets onto a bicycle.
Parents can do a lot to encourage a child to wear a helmet. Some ways include:
- Always wear a helmet yourself when you are riding a bicycle and make an effort to ride with your child.
- Allow your child to pick out his or her own helmet.
- Buy some stickers to "jazz up" a helmet.
- Praise your child for wearing the helmet and address her concern when the helmet does not fit properly.
- Always insist that your child put on a helmet before he or she gets onto a bicycle. If your child breaks this rule, remove bicycle privileges for 1 week.
Choose a Proper Bicycle Size and Type
Having the right size of bicycle is important for the safety of your child. Children riding bicycles that are too big for them are injured more often then children with the proper size of bike. Never buy or allow the use of a bicycle that the child will "grow into."
A child should be able to touch both feet on the ground comfortably when standing over the bicycle. The top bar of the bicycle should be at least 1 inch below the crotch while the child is standing. Your child should be able to reach the handlebars comfortably while sitting on the bicycle seat in an upright posture.
Children just learning to ride on streets should use a bike with foot brakes because they require less coordination for safe use. Children who can safely ride on roadways can use bicycles that require more coordination (such as those with hand brakes and manual gear shifts).
Maintain Your Bicycle
A child or parent should regularly check the bicycle's brakes and tire pressure. If the bicycle has rapid release hubs, check the hubs before each ride. Bicycles with damaged parts such as wheels, spokes, or handlebars should be repaired before they are used again.
For More Information:
For more information on bicycle safety, contact your local bicycle shop or police station. Information on bicycle safety is also available from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (http://www.cpsc.gov) or from the Bicycle Safety Network (http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/bike/default.htm).
Published by McKesson Health Solutions LLC.
This content is reviewed periodically and is subject to change as new health information becomes available. The information is intended to inform and educate and is not a replacement for medical evaluation, advice, diagnosis or treatment by a healthcare professional.
Written by Robert Brayden, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine.
Copyright © 2004 McKesson Health Solutions LLC. All rights reserved.Medical information obtained from our website is not a substitute for professional care. If you have or suspect you have a medical problem, you should immediately consult a healthcare provider.
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Facts About Heat Illness
What You Need To Know
Even short periods of high temperature can cause serious health problems. Doing too much on a hot day, spending too much time in the sun or staying too long in an overheated place can cause heat-related illnesses.
Symptoms
Mild Dehydration
- Alert, slight increase in heart rate, pulse normal
Moderate Dehydration
- Lethargic, slight increase in heart rate, thready pulse
Severe Dehydration
- Dry skin
- Light-headedness
- Dizziness and / or fainting
- Confusion
- Dry mouth and mucous membranes
- Elevated heart rate
- Increase breathing rate
Prevention
Stay cool and hydrated. The key to preventing problems is to stay adequately hydrated and keep exposure to extreme heat to a minimum.
- Drink plenty of fluids – avoid liquids that contain caffeine, alcohol or large
amounts of sugar.
- Wear lightweight and looser fitting clothing
- Wear a hat with a brim.
- Use an umbrella
- Apply adequate sunscreen and reapply when appropriate include your nose, lips,
ears and neck
- Schedule outdoor activities carefully – limit activity to morning and evening
hours.
- Rest often in shady areas.
- Pace yourself
- Stay cool indoors
Treatments
Mild Dehydration
- Drink a rehydration drink ( water, juice, sports drink)
Moderate Dehydration
- Drink a rehydration drink
- Get out of direct sunlight and lie down in a cooler environment
Severe Dehydration
- Seek Medical Attention – call 911
- Apply cool compresses or ice packs to groin and armpits
- Spray with water mist. Get into shade or cool environment. Fan them
- Elevate feet
- Remove unnecessary clothing
- Rest for 24 hours and continue fluid replacement
When to Seek Medical Attention
Seek medical attention; call 911 when you begin cooling the victim. Heat illness may progress from mild to moderate to severe rapidly with the lines between them blurred. Moderate dehydration may require medical intervention. Severe dehydration ALWAYS requires medical intervention.
Additional Information:
Mild Dehydration, replacement of fluids should take care of the problem. A sports drink, such as Gatorade, is best, but plain water will do. Do not give the victim any alcohol, or drinks containing caffeine. Children who are mildly dehydrated can be given a pediatric electrolyte solution, such as Pedialyte. This replaces fluids and important minerals, without all the sugar found in sports drinks.
Moderate Dehydration, especially in children, call your doctor for advice. Children can become severely dehydrated very quickly, so let your doctor decide whether your child’s dehydration can be treated at home, or requires medical attention. Intravenous fluids may be needed for moderate dehydration (child or adult).
Severe Dehydration, CALL 911. Severe dehydration is a life-threatening condition, and requires immediate medical attention. Be aware that dehydration can worsen quickly if not treated, especially in children, so prevention and early treatment of dehydration is crucial. Severe dehydration that is left untreated can result in seizures, permanent brain damage, and even death.
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Head Injury: Prevention
Most head injuries heal, but any damage to the brain is usually permanent. Many serious head injuries can be prevented by taking the following precautions:
- When you drive, place your child in a car safety seat. When your child weighs 40 pounds or more, use a booster safety seat. Don't use the regular car seat and lap belt until your child weighs over 60 pounds. All states now have child-restraint laws and with good reason: They reduce injuries by 80 percent and deaths by 90 percent.
- To prevent pedestrian accidents, teach your child to look both ways before crossing and while crossing a street or alley. Teach him to use crosswalks and not to run across the street. Most children cannot safely cross the street alone until age 7 or 8.
- Never leave an infant of any age alone on a high place like a bed, sofa, changing table, or an exam table in the doctor's office. Your baby may unexpectedly roll over for the first time or wiggle off and fall on his head.
- Always keep the side rails up on the crib. As soon as your child can pull to standing in the crib, lower the mattress.
- Don't buy a bunk bed. If you already have one, keep children under age 6 years out of the top bunk and use a side rail. Be sure the bed frame is strong enough to keep the mattress from falling through. And don't let your children jump on beds.
- Don't buy a baby walker. They do not help your baby develop walking skills. Thirty-five percent of infants using walkers have accidents requiring emergency care.
- Don't leave your child unattended in a shopping cart.
- Place a sturdy gate at the top of stairways. Keep the stairway cleared of clutter. When your child starts to climb stairs, teach him to hold onto the banister when he goes down the stairs.
- Keep doors leading to the basement or outdoors closed. Secure them with an extra latch above the child's reach.
- If you live on an upper floor of a building, install window locks or guards.
- Don't leave younger children under the supervision of an aggressive sibling.
- Always supervise your child's outside play until she can be trusted to stay in the yard (age 4 or 5). Three-year-olds can't be expected to keep promises not to go near the street.
- Don't teach your child how to ride a bicycle until your child is old enough (age 7 or 8) to understand safety issues such as emergency stops and rules about right-of-way.
- Never allow your child to ride a bike unless he is wearing a bicycle helmet. All-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and motorcycles are too unsafe to ride, even with a helmet.
- Forbid trampolines. Serious accidents have occurred even with close supervision.
Written by B.D. Schmitt, M.D., author of "Your Child's Health," Bantam Books.
Published by McKesson Health Solutions LLC. Last modified: 2002-03-21
Copyright © 2004 McKesson Corporation and/or one of its subsidiaries. All Rights Reserved.
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Note: Medical information obtained from our website is not a substitute for professional care. If you have or suspect you have a medical problem, you should immediately consult a healthcare provider.