Holiday safety Web sites

Holiday safety Web sites

COMPUTERS IN CLINICAL CARE Section Editor: Carole Rush, RN, MEd, CEN Holiday Safety Web Sites Carole Rush, RN, MEd, CEN oliday celebrations are a tim...

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COMPUTERS IN CLINICAL CARE Section Editor: Carole Rush, RN, MEd, CEN

Holiday Safety Web Sites Carole Rush, RN, MEd, CEN oliday celebrations are a time of joy but can also be a time of injury. Hazards include toys that are poorly designed, manufactured, or are inappropriate for the recipient. Fire hazards increase with the use of candles and faulty decorations. Holiday plants can present a risk for poisoning. New Year’s Eve is often welcomed with a display of fireworks. The risk of motor vehicle crashes increases during this season as families travel to multiple holiday celebrations. The risk is higher if travel is combined with fatigue, alcohol, and potentially hazardous road conditions. The following Web sites are provided to guide injury prevention efforts and as a source of holiday safety tips. • The Safe America Foundation site includes fact sheets on kitchen safety for the holiday, driving hazards, and a holiday safety planner. http://www.safeamerica.org/html/safe_ame rica_month_tips.cfm • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention site has sections on firework-related injury, alcoholrelated traffic fatalities, and impaired driving. http://www.cdc.gov/health/injuries.htm In addition, it provides information on a range of safety topics, including seasonal safety tips, and it links users to organizations with additional information on those topics. http://www.cdc.gov/safeusa

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Carole Rush, RN, MEd, CEN, is an injury prevention specialist for child and adolescent health at Calgary Regional Health Authority, Alberta, Canada. Please write [email protected] with comments. Reprint requests: Carole Rush, RN, MEd, CEN, Calgary Regional Health Authority, PO Box 4016, Station C, 320 17th Ave, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2T 5T1. Int J Trauma Nurs 2000;6:137. Copyright © 2000 by the Emergency Nurses Association.

• National Safe Kids Campaign site has a fact sheet on toy injury and residential fire injury, which are leading causes of holiday trauma. http://www.safekids.org • Safe Kids Canada site includes fact sheets on holiday safety tips, including safe decorating, candle safety, toy safety, safe celebrations, and safe traveling. http://www.safekidscanada.ca/ English/Safety_tips/ST_Holiday.html • The American Trauma Society site has a section on brochures available for purchase that includes the “ATS Holiday Safety Card.” http://www.amtrauma.org/programs/ brochures.cfm • Consumer Product Safety Commission site features a listing of holiday safety publications that can be ordered online: Fireworks Safety Alert, Fireworks Safety Tips for the Millennium, Halloween Safety, and Merry Christmas With Safety. http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/ holpubs.html In addition, the site includes several news releases involving safety tips and recalls. To view these news releases, go to the home page of the CPSC, www.cpsc.gov, then click “Recalls/News.” Click on “Chronological listing by month and year released.” “CPSC releases Toy Safety Tips for Holiday Shoppers” can be reached by clicking on November 1999 and scrolling down (www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml00/ 00021. html). Or click on December 1999 for the following three news releases: “CPSC releases Holiday Safety Tips for Avoiding Fires and Injuries”(www.cpsc.gov/ cpscpub/prerel/prhtml00/00025.html), “CPSC, Rich Pacific Announce Recall of Christmas Lights” (www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/ prerelprhtml00/00042.html), and “CPSC, Fashion Bug Announce Recall of Christmas Candles” (www.cpsc.gov/cpsc/ pub.prerel/ prhtml00/00040.html).

1075-4210/2000/$12.00 + 0 65/1/110278 doi:10.1067/mtn.2000.110278 OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2000

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