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Safety Tips

Things To Consider When Childproofing Your Home

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It is stressful enough to continuously make sure your kids are doing fine outside of the house; however, to help ease your burden when everyone is kicking back and relaxing, these are some things to consider when childproofing your home, so your afterhours are that much more stress-free.

Keep the Air Clean

For those with children who have compromised breathing, providing them with the best living conditions when they sleep is necessary to prevent them from inhaling excess particles at night. By using an air purifier, you are able better to control the quality of the air in their room. These machines also help reduce asthma symptoms while improving sleep and eliminating any harmful pollutants in the air. For those who worry when their child struggles to breathe sometimes, this is a great way to help soothe those symptoms.

Replace Your Doorbell

Not talking to strangers has always been an important rule for kids to follow. By installing a smart doorbell by your front door, you are able to more actively monitor each visitor to your home and speak to them without having to open up the entrance of your house at all. This is excellent for those who prefer to keep their children away from solicitors or unexpected guests.

Secure Loose Carpets

It is only expected that there is going to be a lot of activity at home, especially on the weekends. When everyone is running around the house, you’ll want to minimize the chance of accidents in playrooms or dining rooms. By taking advantage of different ways to prevent your carpets from moving around, you lower the risk of your kids slipping and falling on the floor or, worse, causing something to fall on them. The same is true for any furniture or other installations that have the potential to move.

Upgrade Indoor Security

Installing smart locks by any doors or windows in your home is a good way to be made aware of any unintended breaches. These locks are easy to install and provide a hands-free call to emergency services if you are not able to deactivate them for any reason. These locks normally come with a code typed into either an app or the main device installed elsewhere. By keeping this code between your family members, deactivation and activation are reserved only for your intended selection.

Keeping you and your family safe is always a top priority. For those who are vigilant or who worry over the what-ifs when it comes to your kids, these things to consider when childproofing your home are sure to help you ensure nothing goes wrong under your watch.

The Benefits of Taking a First Aid Course With Your Kids

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When you think about hanging out with the kids, your mind probably goes to amusement parks, the zoo, indoor fun centers, and the like. But a first aid class? You might imagine the look of disappointment on their faces when you describe a morning or afternoon of instruction, but give them the benefit of the doubt. A first aid course is fun in the right circumstances and setting, and you’ll equip them with the skills they need. Here are the benefits of taking a first aid course with your kids.

Learning First Aid Is Never Boring

First aid and CPR courses promise excitement, engaging activities, and interesting anecdotes from the instructor. You’ll have to practice what you learn, leading to the fun of practicing techniques on each other, including bandaging, CPR, Heimlich maneuvering, splints, and more. If your kids are fascinated with such things, they’ll love learning the importance of caring for others while satiating their curiosity.

First Aid Knowledge Builds Confidence

Another one of the benefits of taking a first aid course with your kids is that kids certified in first aid and CPR are more confident about their ability to handle an emergency. Kids can learn first aid skills as young as nine years old, and a child who knows how to look out for and care for their friends is more self-assured and will view themselves as a leader in their peer group. You’re also showing that you trust them with this sort of knowledge, making it a great bonding moment.

They’ll Learn Valuable Skills

There’s no argument against learning first aid. Everyone should know the basics of providing first aid to an injured or otherwise incapacitated person until healthcare professionals arrive. First aid gives a person a fighting chance, potentially saving their life, limbs, or general health and well-being. When you equip your kids with first aid skills, you’re ensuring this doesn’t just apply to your family but all the people your kids know or meet in their lives. Other courses and camps can entertain and educate your children, but first aid prepares them for the worst life can throw at them. Who knows? They may even save your life someday.

Tips and Tricks for Childproofing Your Home

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Covering up open outlets, placing corner guards on sharp points, and baby-gating stairs were probably the first steps you took to make your home safer for your young children. If you’re wondering what more you can do to make your home as safe as possible for your kids, check out these tips and tricks for childproofing your home.

Add Kitchen Locks

The kitchen is arguably the single most dangerous room in any home for a child. It’s full of sharp and hot things that could easily harm your child should they get their hands on these items. Knives, blenders, toasters, and ovens are just a few of these hazards. One step you can take to prevent injuries is to place safety locks on cabinets and drawers that contain potentially dangerous objects. To keep kids safe around the oven, you can use a stove guard, be sure to use only the back burners for cooking, and turn pot and pan handles toward the counter.

Secure Your Furniture

Large furniture can be especially dangerous if left standing on its own. A curious child climbing around can take down bookcases, cabinets, and shelves. To keep these from toppling over onto your child, get some fasteners and secure the furniture flush against the wall. Screws will be the best method of securing the furniture. Many parents often forget this aspect of childproofing, making this an essential tip for childproofing your home.

Check Your Attic

If your home has an attic, make sure you’ve taken the steps to make this area childproof as well. Check the ladder for any loose or protruding nails. These are super easy to remove, but they can do a lot of damage if your child is playing near the ladder or climbing on it. If your child is able to access the attic, check to see if you can address any other potential problem areas. Attic safety is widely disregarded, but the safer your kids can be, the better.

No matter what, your child’s safety should be your top priority. Much of what they’re experiencing is so new and fresh to them that they’re not always thinking about safety themselves. Locking up hazardous areas, making sure your furniture is secure, and checking every space of your home are the keys to making sure your children are as safe as they can be in your home.

Drunk Driving and Your Health: What Are The Real Risks?

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You’re used to driving late at night even if you’re drunk. Whenever you meet up with friends to get a few drinks, you don’t mind driving alone just to get home. This has been your routine for years, and it has worked out for you – you get home without being involved in any accidents. However, your family and friends have started to show concern of how erroneous your ways are. They think that drinking and driving should never go together. They’re not telling you to stop drinking, but they’re just looking after your safety. But being the strong-willed person as you are, you didn’t heed any of their warnings for you. You think that you can take care of yourself (because you did that for years, right?) and they’re just overreacting. And so, you continue doing what you’re accustomed to.

Telling you that there are dangers in drink driving is an understatement. You might be a professional driver and you’re confident that you know everything there is about driving but once you’re drunk, things change – a lot. If you’re still not considering anything your friends and family warned you about, here are the health risks of drink driving. These should be reasons enough for you to change what you think is right:

  1. Drink driving can affect your vision: You need your eyes to be straight on the road when you’re driving. Aside from knowing what is in front of you, you should also look at the things happening around you when you drive such as the pedestrians, other vehicles near you and road conditions. You might be doing everything of these when you’re sober, but you’ll see things differently once alcohol is in your system.
    1. If you’ve been drunk too many times, you might already be familiar with the sensation of seeing everything as if it’s tilting to one side. This happens when you’re out in the open, drunk, so can you imagine what you’ll see when you’re behind the wheel?
    2. When you’re drunk, your vision becomes blurry. This means that when you drink and drive, you might lose the ability to see clearly what’s in front of you. You might notice that something is in front, but you’ll have a hard time determining what is it – is it a car or is a pedestrian?
  1. Drink driving can affect your hearing: The reason why it’s not recommended to wear your headphones while you drive is because your hearing is required here. You should be able to hear things to know if there’s a vehicle approaching towards you or if you’re in the way of a speeding truck.
    1. Scientifically speaking, there are hair cells all over your body, and these cells prompt your brain to “hear” something. When you’re intoxicated, these cells are impaired and can no longer function well. You might still hear a few honks while driving, but you may not be able to respond as quickly as possible.
    2. Aside from disrupting your driving, the damage to your hair cells due to excessive alcohol intake can also lead to permanent hearing loss. If this happens to you, you may never be able to drive again and can affect other aspects of your life.
  1. Drink driving can affect your brain: Your brain plays an important role in everything that you do, and driving is no exemption. You might argue that you can still see and hear well when you’re drunk, but everything of these senses will be useless if your brain can never process the information it receives.
    1. Your brain controls your eye, hand and feet coordination and this can be greatly affected once you’re drunk. You might be able to see and hear everything on the road while you’re driving but if you can’t do anything according to what’s in front of you, an accident could happen. Take this for example: you saw a pedestrian crossing a few feet away from your vehicle, but since you’re drunk, you might step on your break a little too late because it took you time to process this information. One of the best ways to prevent a bicycle or pedestrian accident is to responsibly consume alcohol and take a cab or a ride from a sober friend instead of driving.
    2. You also need your brain to function well when you drive because you need to understand everything that’s happening around you. If you’re hindered to do this, your judgment and decision-making will be affected.

Your friends and family wouldn’t stop you from doing anything unless it can become dangerous to your well-being, or the well-being of others. They’re only looking after you and want the best for you. Sure, you can still drink whenever and wherever you want, but once you’re drunk, you should pay attention to what these people have told you. If you have a car and you’re planning to go home after having a few drinks, don’t do it. Consider having a friend drive you home or stay in a nearby hotel for you to rest instead. Don’t force yourself to drive just to get home. Don’t sacrifice your life because of drink driving – it’s not worth it.

Top 10 First Aid Tips Every Parent Should Know

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The roles of a parent are endless: protector, tear-wiper, referee, chef, teacher…the list could go on and on.

However, it is in those crucial moments, when parents need to react immediately, that they play the most important role they will take on…that of a first responder.

All children injure themselves in one way or the other, in a minor or even major way. That is why parents must possess accurate first aid knowledge.

If parents can commit these essential first aid tips to memory, they can rest easy when their child is in need of immediate medical attention:

10. Safeguard for Potential Danger: Even for a well-behaved child, a house needs to be child-proofed. This task requires necessary steps: all poisonous materials (cleaners, matches, lighters, pool and automotive chemicals) need to be locked up, sharp objects should be out of reach, and fire and carbon monoxide detectors should be installed and checked regularly.

9. Preparation: It is not good enough to think you are prepared for first aid procedures and emergency situations; you need to know your family is prepared for these situations. Some steps that ensure sound preparation are: possessing necessary first aid items (and making them easily accessible), posting important phone numbers in a visible place (poison control, doctor’s office, neighbors), and establishing an affirmative plan for fires.

8.  Cuts and Scrapes: Proper first aid for these injuries may seem simple enough, but you may be surprised. To properly care for cuts and scrapes, the injured area should be washed with water only until it is clean. Then, apply an antibiotic cream or ointment and cover the cut or scrape with a clean bandage. This ensures the avoidance of infection.

7. Excessive Bleeding: If a cut or wound is bleeding profusely, you should call for emergency help. Until help arrives, wash your hands and then apply pressure to the wound with a clean gauze. Make sure the wound is elevated.

6. Sprains/Fractures: Sprains and fractures will cause bruising, swelling, redness and pain. You will not be able to diagnose this type of injury yourself, so professional care will need to be sought out. In the meantime, you can make your own splint by wrapping the injury with a towel and then using a stiff material (such as cardboard) to hold the area in place. The injury should also be elevated above the heart (if possible) and ice should be applied for 20 minutes to reduce swelling.

5. Nose Bleeds: Contrary to popular belief, tipping the head backwards is not the proper procedure in this situation. Instead, the nostrils should be pinched with pressure and your child should lean forward while breathing through their mouth for approximately 5 minutes.

4. Burns: To treat burns properly, the burned area should be run under cool water until the pain stops. It is incorrect to apply ice, ointment or butter to a burn. If the burn creates blisters, you should call your child’s doctor.

3. Insect Stings: Dangerous insects are a fairly common threat. If your child gets stung, you should promptly remove the stinger and apply ice in order to alleviate the pain. Your child should be carefully monitored after the stinging takes place for if they develop hives, swelling of the face or throat, or have difficulty breathing, emergency help is needed immediately.

2. Ticks: If your child is playing outside, you should always check them for ticks. If you find one, you will need to remove it immediately by using your fingers or tweezers. You will also need to keep an eye on your child to see if they develop a rash or fever. If this is the case, you will need to alert their doctor.

1. Common Sense: The above first aid tips are considered general information. Your own common sense should undoubtedly be present in these situations. In other words, use first aid procedures but be confident in your own judgment to know when to seek professional help!