Seasonal Safety
                         Top 5 Tips for Safe Holiday Toy Shopping

Each year, more than 3 billion toys and games are sold in the United States, with 65 percent of these sales occurring between the day after Thanksgiving and the day before Christmas. Learn how to shop safe this holiday season by following these top 5 tips:

• Before shopping for toys, consider the child's age, interest and skill level. A fun, but inappropriate toy for a particular child can be dangerous.
  

• Keep toys with small parts away from children under age 3. They can choke on small toys and toy parts.
  

• Shopping at a second hand shop this holiday season? Check recalls.gov to make sure kids' products and toys are safe and haven't been recalled.
  

• Bikes or scooters make great holiday gifts. But remember that a helmet is a necessity, not an accessory when it comes to wheeled sports.
  

• Consider alternatives to putting children in shopping carts including strollers and carts that have plastic mini-cars or trucks attached to the front or back. If you must use a cart, make sure your child stays seated and is secured by a seat belt.

Unintentional and preventable injuries are the leading causes of death for children under the age of 14 in the United States.

• Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death to children ages 2 to 14 and the leading cause of injury-related deaths for children under 2.
• Every year more than 830 children ages 13 and under die as a result of unintentional drowning and on average an annual 3,600 injuries occur to children due to near-drowning incidents.
• Every year approximately 140 children are killed as bicyclists and more than 275,000 children sustain non-fatal bicycle injuries.
• Every year an average of 2,096 children ages 14 and under die as a result of home injuries.
• Every year approximately 103 children die from fall-related injuries and over 2.3 million fall-related injuries in children are reported. 
• Every year an estimated 14 million unintentional injuries are sustained by children less than 14 years of age and of these injuries 10% - 25% occur in and around schools.
• Every year more than 100 children ages 14 and under die as a result of unintentional poisoning and more than 1.2 million unintentional poisonings

Please see attached flyer of the car seat inspection stations that are sponsored by the Safe Kids Coalition and PBC Fire Rescue each month and the attached flyer of all child passenger safety inspection sites throughout Palm Beach County. Feel free to post these flyers or hand them out to your families.  If you have families in need, most of the fitting stations provide new seats for a $20 donation. 

 Read more about highlights from October!

 If you need any further assistance in obtaining Safe Kids materials please feel free to contact:

Kelly Powell, Program Director.

561-801-1300

The Truth about Booster Seats

Confused about using a booster seat? Don’t be!

Real children are not like crash test dummies, so every seat can fit differently. Booster kids come in all shapes and sizes, so take your child to pick out the booster that fits him or her best.

Don’t panic if your booster seat shows up on a “not recommended” list. The seat that does not fit the crash dummy may fit your child perfectly and all boosters on the market meet federal crash test standards.

The numbers tell the truth: booster seats save lives.

The latest research from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia shows that children who use a belt positioning booster seat in a back seat are 45 percent less likely to be injured in a crash than those who use just a seat belt.

Most kids under 4 feet 9 inches, who weigh between 80 and 100 pounds are likely to need a booster seat to get a good fit of the adult seat belt. That means that many kids will start riding in a booster seat between the ages of 4 to 8 and remain in it until they are between 8 and 12 years old. Don't guess. Use your correctly fitted booster seat to keep your child safe in the vehicle.

For more information, please contact Safe Kids Palm Beach County at 561/841-3500 x 2267.