Memorial Day in Massachusetts is known by Boston residents as the unofficial start of summer. Soon, Massachusetts children will be out of school for summer vacation, with Boston Public Schools letting out on June 24, 2010. And with summer and children outside, the risk of serious injuries increases greatly. The Boston attorneys at the Law Office of Neil Burns reminds all Boston area residents that childhood injuries increase during the summer months. We note the following information in an effort to keep our children safe and free from personal injury.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, unintentional (non-abuse) injuries were the leading cause of death amongst children who presented to an emergency room between the years 2000 and 2006. Thus, this begs the question of whether there are any patterns to child injuries, and if so, how do we keep children safe? When the above statistics were studied, they revealed that childhood injuries seemed to cluster chronologically in families. So if a child was injured seriously enough to be hospitalized, all the children in that family were at higher risk of injury for the next three months. After three months time, the families' risk returned to normal.
Thus, this three month time period is a heightened time within which parents need to be especially careful. We want to make sure we are creating the safest possible environment for our children. Some of the greatest successes in injury prevention have come from across-the-board safeguards like seat belt laws, bike helmets, and fences around pools. Hopefully, we can extent this to helping our kids and their siblings stay safe in knowing the significance of the three month injury time period.
