OnSafety is the Official Blog Site of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Here you'll find the latest safety information as well as important messages that will keep you and your family safe. We hope you'll visit often!
Los programas de educación comunitaria funcionan. Ese es el mensaje que nosotros en CPSC escuchamos constantemente mediante nuestra Red de Seguridad para la Comunidad (Neighborhood Safety Network).
Recientemente, en el Hospital de Niños Randall de Portland, Oregón, se promocionó ese mensaje al difundir información de seguridad durante la Semana Nacional de Prevención de Caídas desde Ventanas (National Window Safety Week) “Según datos del Registro de Trauma de Oregón, el número de niños que caen de ventanas se redujo en un 46 por ciento entre 2009 y 2011”, señaló el hospital en un comunicado de prensa.
El hospital de Oregón, junto con Safe Kids Oregon y la mamá de un niño que murió tras caer de una ventana, formaron la campaña STOP at 4” (PARE a 4 pulgadas, por su traducción a inglés) para aumentar la concientización sobre la seguridad de las ventanas. El eslogan de la campaña significa que cuando uno abre las ventanas debe parar y trabar las ventanas a 4 pulgadas, para prevenir que los niños se caigan por las ventanas abiertas. Según el sitio web de la campaña, la iniciativa fue lanzada por especialistas en prevención de lesiones a quienes les preocupaba el gran número de niños en Oregón que caían desde ventanas de segundos pisos en la temporada de tiempo caluroso.
Las caídas desde ventanas son un tema de seguridad sobre el que hemos escrito anteriormente. Tenemos un fantástico video, una alerta de seguridad y la guía “Una casa a prueba de riesgos infantiles” que puede colocar en su sitio web y en su comunidad o compartirlo en sus canales de medios sociales para diseminar el mensaje: Cinco minutos es todo lo que se requiere para prevenir que su hijo(a) caiga de una ventana. Lo instamos a que siga estas medidas sencillas:
Instale protectores y trabas de ventanas para prevenir que los niños se caigan por las ventanas.
No dependa de los mosquiteros para evitar que los niños caigan. Los mosquiteros mantienen a los insectos afuera, pero no mantienen a los niños adentro.
Siempre que sea posible, abra las ventanas desde la parte de arriba, NO la de abajo.
No ponga muebles cerca de las ventanas, para evitar el acceso de los niños.
Aplaudimos los esfuerzos de las campañas de seguridad locales como las de Portland, la Ciudad de Nueva York, entre otras ciudades y localidades. Nuestra Red de Seguridad para la Comunidad envía materiales de seguridad gratuitos incluyendo afiches, videos, folletos y alertas a suscriptores de todo el país para ayudar a diseminar la seguridad en las comunidades locales. Regístrese para recibir los materiales.
¿Desea ayudar en su comunidad con alguna necesidad relacionada con un producto de consumo? Dígaselo a nuestro equipo de la Red de Seguridad para la Comunidad enviando un email a nsn@cpsc.gov.
This address for this post is: http://www.cpsc.gov/onsafety/2013/04/las-caidas-por-ventanas-una-comunidad-actua-por-la-seguridad/
Community education programs work. That’s a message we at CPSC hear regularly through our Neighborhood Safety Network.
Last week, during Window Safety Week, Randall Children’s Hospital at Legacy Emanuel in Portland, Ore., touted that message while spreading the word on preventing window falls. “According to Oregon Trauma Registry data, the rate of children’s window falls has decreased 46 percent from 2009 to 2011,” the hospital says in a news release.
The Oregon hospital, along with Safe Kids Oregon and a mom whose child died in a window fall, formed the STOP at 4” campaign to raise awareness about window safety. The campaign’s slogan means that when you open windows, you should stop and lock the window at 4 inches to prevent children from falling from open windows. According to that campaign’s website, the campaign was launched by injury prevention specialists who were concerned by the large number of children in Oregon who fell from second-story windows in warm weather.
Window fall safety is a topic we’ve written about before. We have a fantastic video and a safety alert that you can post on your website and in your community or share in your social media channels to spread the message: Five minutes is all it takes to prevent your child from falling out of a window. We encourage you to follow these simple steps:
Install window guards and window stops to prevent children from falling out of windows.
Don’t depend on screens to keep children from falling out. Screens keep bugs out; they won’t keep children in.
Whenever possible, open windows from the top, NOT the bottom.
Keep furniture away from windows to limit a child’s access.
We applaud local safety campaigns such as those in Portland, New York City and other cities and towns. Our Neighborhood Safety Network sends free safety materials including posters, videos, pamphlets and alerts to subscribers around the country to help spread safety in local communities.
Do you want to help address a consumer product-related safety need in your community? Let our Neighborhood Safety Network team know at nsn@cpsc.gov.
This address for this post is: http://www.cpsc.gov/onsafety/2013/04/window-falls-a-community-acts-for-safety/
Two women are reported to have died from carbon monoxide poisoning recently in Chicago, according to the Chicago Tribune. The newspaper reports that a faulty boiler is suspected. Elsewhere, in Oxford, Conn., a man reportedly died due to high levels of carbon monoxide (CO) found in a home where he was housesitting. The dogs in the house died, too. (Connecticut Post, 1/30/13).
These reported deaths are just two of the regular, tragic reminders we see that carbon monoxide is a killer. In fact, CO is called the “invisible killer,” because you can’t see, smell or taste it. Don’t let this happen to you.
Have fuel-burning home heating appliances – your furnace, chimney, water heater, etc. – checked by a professional every year to make sure they are working properly.
Install carbon monoxide alarms on every level of your home and outside bedroom areas.
If you use a generator when the power goes out, keep it outside, far from windows and doors. Do NOT use a generator in your garage.
Carbon-monoxide deaths are more common than you might think. According to a new CPSC report:
There were an average of 169 unintentional, non-fire CO poisoning deaths each year between 2007 and 2009.
1/3 of the deaths were associated with carbon monoxide from heating systems, such as furnaces.
More than 40% of carbon-monoxide deaths are from using generators, such as operating them in a garage or basement, which is extremely dangerous.
Most CO deaths occur in the colder months of the year: November, December, January and February.
In addition to carbon monoxide risks, space heaters also need to be handled with extra care to prevent unintentional fires. Space heaters are associated with an average of 100 deaths each year between 2008 and 2010.
Just last week, local fire officials reportedly blamed space heaters for fires at homes in Portsmouth, Va. (via Fox 43-TV) and Bristol Township, Pa. (via PhillyBurbs.com).
When you use a space heater, follow these safety tips:
Turn the space heater off when you go to sleep or leave the room.
Keep the space heater at least three feet away from anything that can burn, including curtains and furniture.
Have working smoke alarms on every level of your home, outside bedroom areas and inside each bedroom.
Install a working smoke alarm in your home. Consumers who have working smoke alarms in their homes die in fires at about half the rate of those who do not.
Change the batteries every year.
Replace the smoke alarms every 10 years. After all, smoke alarms don’t last forever.
BETTER:
Multiple working smoke alarms are better than one. Install alarms on every level of your house, inside each bedroom and outside sleeping areas.
Interconnect your smoke alarms. That way, if one smoke alarm detects a fire, all smoke alarms will sound.
Consider installing smoke alarms that use 10-year sealed batteries. They don’t require annual battery changes.
BEST:
Install two types of working smoke alarms in your home: ionization and photoelectric alarms. Smoke alarms use one or both of these methods, sometimes with a heat detector, to warn you about a fire. The safety standard for smoke alarms has been improved and should result in improvements to how both types of alarms perform. Ionization alarms respond quickly to flaming fires and photoelectric detectors respond sooner to smoldering fires. Make sure all alarms are interconnected.
Have a fire escape plan and practice it. A smoke alarm can’t save your family’s lives if everyone doesn’t know what to do when it sounds. Have two ways to get out of each room and set a pre-arranged meeting place outside. And remember, once you are out of the house, stay out.
This address for this post is: http://www.cpsc.gov/onsafety/2012/10/smoke-alarms-good-better-best/
In 2008 — the latest year for which we have complete data — there were about 190 unintentional non-fire CO-poisoning deaths associated with consumer products under our jurisdiction. The product associated with most of these deaths? Portable generators.
As more people use portable generators, the numbers of CO-related deaths have increased. In 1999 there were seven generator-related CO deaths. In 2008 the number of deaths reached 86. That’s an increase of more than 1,000 percent.
Install working CO alarms in your home. Make sure the alarm is battery-operated or has a battery-backup so it works during a power outage.
Keep all generators outside of your home, away from doors and windows.
Never use a generator in a garage, basement, crawl space, shed or on a porch.
Most CO-related deaths happen from November through February — the cold months. This makes sense, of course. In colder months, we use our furnaces and fuel-burning space heaters. When we lose power during storms, more and more of you power up your portable generators.
CO deaths also occur when charcoal is used indoors. Just like generators, keep burning charcoal outside, away from the house.
Let’s see if we can work together to drop the number of carbon monoxide-related deaths.
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