CDC Tips on Keeping Kids Safe This Summer

Woohooo!

School is out! Memorial Day is here! Besides fun, parents know better than many others what this also means -- safety concerns for children.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is offering several tips for parents, and other adult guardians, to help keep the kiddos safe this summer.

Patch has provided five below. For the full list, and ways to keep your children safe this summer, click here.

1. Practice water safety

Three children die every day as a result of drowning. And, drownings are the leading cause of injury death for children ages 1 to 4. Tip: Teach children to swim, learn CPR, install a good fence around home pools, and surpervice children at all times. 

2. Boating safety

Of those who died in a boating incident in 2009, more than 7 out of 10 (73 percent) drowned. In more than 90 percent of those drownings, victims were not wearing a life jacket. Tip: Make sure life jackets are properly fitted and worn at all times.

3. Heat Safety

Children are among those with the highest risk for heat-related illnesses. Others include the elderly, people with chronic diseases and animals. Tip: Never leave infants, children or pets in a parked car, even if the windows are cracked open. Dress infants and children in loose, lightweight, light-colored clothing.

4. Sun Safety

Even a few serious sunburns can increase your child's risk of skin cancer later in life. Tip: Protect children's skin with sunblock at all times.

5. Playground Safety

Each year in the United States, the CDC reports that emergency departments treat more than 200,000 children ages 14 and younger for playground-related injuries. Falls are very common. Tip: Check to make sure that the surfaces under playground equipment are safe, soft, and well-maintained. Playgrounds with wood chips are sand, for example, are better than those with grass or dirt.

-- Parents, what are some of your tried and true safety tips for your children. Let us know in the comment section. --