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Home › Articles › Home Safety › Summer's Outdoor Hazards

Summer's Outdoor Hazards

Tips to Keep Tots Safe

By Shannon McKelden

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Lisa Chaplin, a nurse in New South Wales, Australia, has experience with this type of danger, not only professionally, but personally. "My son fell headfirst into our swimming pool at 17 months while I was there hanging out washing," she says. "He barely made a splash and was drowning silently. It was terrifying. He was choking when I pulled him out."

One thing Chaplin learned from this and from her experiences as a hospital nurse is that silence isn't always golden. "Don't take for granted that quiet is good and it's time to rest," Chaplin says. "Almost every parent I saw that lost/almost lost a child said the same thing: they thought the child was safe, and they were just resting a moment/answering the phone/making coffee, etc."

"When a toddler is in or around a pool, parents need to be 100 percent focused on that child," Drago says. Soloway adds that adults should know CPR and can take turns being the designated watcher at parties or family gatherings.

And pools aren't the only water hazard to watch out for. It only takes 1 inch of water for a child to drown. Toddlers tend to be top heavy and inquisitive (and most love water), making even 5-gallon buckets with a bit of rainwater in them a serious outdoor danger. The toddler leans into the bucket to touch the water and gets stuck or isn't strong enough to right himself.

More to Keep in Mind

Robert Soloway, safety/security expert and chairman of NAPCO Security Systems, offers a few more general outdoor safety tips for a fun-filled, injury-free summer:

  • Children should wear proper clothes. Drawstrings, purses and necklaces can get caught on equipment and accidentally strangle a toddler.
  • Use age-appropriate toys while outdoors. Make sure outdoor toys that are used for play are age appropriate for the children playing with them.
  • Have a first aid kit readily available for scrapes and bruises. Refill the first aid kit each season and keep it stored somewhere close to the backyard.
  • Have a charged cell phone available, whether in your own backyard or at a playground, in case your toddler or baby has an unexpected emergency.


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