Burns are the most common injuries in children in the winter months, particularly at early age. In 2015, 3,002 children came to emergency rooms and Terem clinics due to burns. Many other burns go unreported.
3 in 5 children who arrive at the emergency room and 80% of hospital admission are due to scalds. An analysis of data conducted by The BeTerem Child Safety Organization at 10 hospitals in 2010-2016 revealed that children aged 0-4 are at the highest risk for burns. During the weekends, an increase in scalds occurs, mostly in the home and in the house yard, half in the kitchen.
By adopting a few simple safety rules, you can protect your children and avert terrible suffering. Children’s skin is thinner and much more delicate than that of adults and the relative surface area on which liquid spills is greater. A burn that would cause an adult to have an unpleasant feeling may result in a prolonged hospital stay lasting weeks to months and even operations and scars for children.
Scald prevention rules
In the kitchen or living room
- Never cook or drink a hot drink while picking up an infant.
- Keep hot drinks away from children.
- Do not put a hot drink cup on a tablecloth when there are children nearby.
- Keep pots, kettles, hot water urns and hot drink cups away from the edge of the work surface or table
- Cook on the innermost hobs of the stove and keep the handles of pots and pans turned inward instead of protruding
- For those observing the Sabbath: keep the Sabbath hob out of reach of children and make sure that the power cable is inaccessible to them too
- Make sure that the grandparents’ home is safe for children too
In restaurants
- Keep infants and children away from aisles that waiters and waitresses carry hot vessels and food through
In the bath and shower
- Measure the temperature before putting infants into the bath – the ideal temperature is 37 degrees
- When children take showers, check the water stream before they enter
- Do not leave children alone in the bath, even if they are with elder siblings
Rules for preventing chemical burns
- Keep cleaning agents out of reach of children
Rules for preventing burns from fire
- Install a smoke detector in the home – a cheap, lifesaving device. The smoke detector warns of a fire in real time and gives you time to escape or extinguish the fire.
- Don’t leave lit candles or cooking stews attended
- Make sure that there is no curtain next to the gas stove or Sabbath candles
- Coil heaters, gas heaters and heat blowers may cause a fire and burns. It is advisable not to use them.
- If there is a heating stove in the home, enclose it in mesh.
- Keep children away from radiators
- Avoid drying clothes on heating appliances. Doing so may cause a fire.
- Keep heating appliances away from flammable objects such as: sofas, blankets and curtains
Rules for preventing electrical burns
- Install covers or a safety socket onto electricity sockets
- Tach children to keep away from electricity and in particular not to climb on electricity pylons
Treating burns after they happen
Fire burns
- Firstly, move the child away from the fire source
- To put out the fire, roll the child on the ground or smother the fire with a nearby cloth.
- After putting out the fire, rinse the affected area with running water
- Seek medical care as soon as possible
Scalds and chemical burns
- Rinse the affected area with lukewarm water for about 20 minutes
- Seek medical care as soon as possible
Electricity burns
- Move the child away from the current source using a non-conductive object
- Seek medical care as soon as possible
