Backyard Safety

Backyard safety is not just for parents with small children. Basic common sense ideas can help children of all ages (and their parents!) avoid harm.

We tend to see a lot of injuries, especially during the active summer months, in the backyard. Many of these mishaps come from lawn equipment, weed killers and other hazards, which are improperly stored.

The following tips can help you and your family stay safe in the yard.

• Sharp and motorized implements should be stored in a locked shed or closet in the garage. Everything from spray paint to gasoline for the mower should be locked up.
• Many a child has broken a bone or emerged with a bump on the head after tripping over uneven sidewalks. Children can also trip on hoses that are left unraveled across a walkway, exposed roots around trees, or even weeds that haven't been covered over with soil. Another problem is that children tend to play "until the streetlights stay on" during the summer, and end up falling on a walkway that isn't lit, as they try to make their way inside to beat the deadline.
• Overgrown shrubs, weeds, and trees are also a hazard for children at play. Overgrown plants can block the view of the road and oncoming traffic. They also serve to hide the child from motorists. They can also cause scrapes and other injuries when a child, who is looking at the path they're running on, forgets to look up and collides with an overhanging shrub.
• Often, parents are not aware that there are plants in their yard that are poisonous if eaten. Smaller children especially like to sample plants, and the results can be tragic. Do a search on the Internet, or consult your local nursery, samples of your plants in hand, to get the information on which types of plants are actually living in your yard.
• Insects are everywhere in a yard --- even if you've sprayed --- but their numbers explode as the sun goes down. In order to avoid excess bites and the risk of infections, call your kids in before dusk, or at least make sure they're sprayed down with a child-friendly bug repellent.
• Even scarier than mosquitoes are ticks. In many parts of the country, Lyme Disease is attacking humans, kids included. If your children are going into an area that could be populated by ticks that cause Lyme Disease (which is little bigger than a pencil tip) cover them with long pants, socks over the pant legs, sturdy shoes, and a long-sleeved shirt, tucked in. In areas where the disease is heavy, hikers have been known to go out with tick collars around their ankles. Up to a certain age you can and should inspect your child for ticks while in the tub, concentrating on their hair. Should you find one, contact your child's physician immediately for instructions on tick removal and follow-up treatment, if any.
• Scan your yard for outcroppings of poison ivy or oak and eradicate them. Remove foxtails, which are known to cause problems for pets, but which can also work their way into the ears of small children.
• Make sure fences are in good repair and sturdy enough to keep kids in where you can monitor them.
• Remember, there's no prevention like supervision!