American Medical Association Family Medical Guide - American Medical Association [66]
• Tell the firefighters if you know of anyone who is trapped in the building.
Safety With Fireworks
Every year, thousands of people are treated in hospital emergency departments for fireworks-related injuries, and some die. Most of the injured are boys between ages 5 and 14 who play with fireworks such as bottle rockets and sparklers, which are sold legally in many states. Burns to the eyes, hands, and face are the most common injuries. Children lack the physical coordination to handle fireworks safely. The safest way to prevent injury from fireworks is not to buy them and to keep them out of your home and away from children. Enjoy fireworks displays at a local show put on by professionals who are trained to use them safely.
Motor Vehicle Safety
Driving defensively may not be enough to keep you safe on the road. Collisions and breakdowns can make you vulnerable to injury from passing vehicles. Alcohol is a factor in more than 40 percent of all fatal motor vehicle crashes, and nearly 300,000 people are injured in alcohol-related collisions each year. The best defense is to wear your seat belt each and every time you drive. Don’t forget to buckle up your children in an age-appropriate safety seat (see page 67), and never let a child age 12 or under ride in the front seat because of the risk of injury and death from a passenger-side air bag (see right).
Seat Belts Save Lives
Seat belts save thousands of lives each year. If you are not wearing a seat belt and you hit something or slam on your brakes, your vehicle will stop but you will keep moving until you hit the windshield, the dashboard, or the back of a front seat. Wearing a seat belt prevents your body from being thrown around inside or out of the vehicle and can help the driver maintain control of the vehicle in a collision. Buckle up on every trip, no matter how short, and teach your children how to buckle up correctly. Here’s the right way to wear a seat belt:
• Adjust the lap belt to fit low and tight across your hips and pelvis, not across your abdomen.
• Place the shoulder belt snugly across your chest, away from your neck.
• Never put the shoulder belt behind your back or under your arm.
After a Collision
Each year, about one in every eight drivers has a motor vehicle collision. Many are minor rear-end collisions. If your vehicle is rear-ended and you don’t feel safe or are uncomfortable getting out of your vehicle in traffic, signal to the other driver to follow you and then drive to the nearest police station, convenience store, or gas station to look at the damage and exchange insurance information. Some states require vehicles involved in a collision to remain at the site.
The following tips can help keep you safe when you are involved in a more serious collision:
• Stop your vehicle if it is safe to do so, and then carefully move it out of traffic if you can.
• Turn off the ignition of all vehicles involved in the collision.
• Check all the people in each of the vehicles to see if they need medical help.
• Call the police and, if necessary, call emergency medical assistance.
WARNING!
Air Bag Safety for Children
Air bags can save lives in a collision, but they inflate with a force powerful enough to kill or severely injure a child or small adult riding or driving in the front seat. Air bags can inflate after only a slight impact. Also, so-called smart air bags—which are designed to adjust their inflation force according to the size of the passenger or driver (or switch off entirely if the passenger is a young child)—are not 100 percent reliable. Any number of circumstances (such as humidity, shifting body weight on or off seats, the added weight of a child seat, extra tension in safety belts, and reclined seats) can cause air bags to deploy when they shouldn’t, or not to inflate when they should. All children age 12 or under (including infants) should ride in the backseat to prevent serious injury