The heat is on
It's summer - time to get outdoors and enjoy glorious
days relaxing in the sun. But hazards lurk behind many holiday
pleasures, so Dawn Molloy shares some vital reminders on keeping
our families healthy and safe while the sun shines.
After a relentlessly wet winter I'm looking forward to
some sunshine. But the sunny days bring with them their own issues,
especially here in New Zealand, with our high risk of ultraviolet
(UV) light making sunburn an ever-present danger.
There are two negative aspects to bad
sunburn. First of all, it hurts! And it causes immediate damage.
But second, and worse, it can cause long-term damage and even skin
cancer, which is too often fatal. Nearly 300 people die of melanoma
every year in New Zealand.
I grew up in an era when sunburn was an
automatic expectation, because come summer, we went on holiday to
the beach and we simply played outside - all day, everyday.
Blisters and calamine lotion were part and parcel of a summer
holiday. Now, my generation are the ones most at risk of skin
cancer, because the damage done when we're young is what shows up
in the statistics decades later. This makes regular melanoma checks
imperative.
There's no excuse today, what with hats,
UV-resistant swimwear for kids, sunscreen creams, and the
ubiquitous "slip, slop, slap, wrap" message. So here's what you can
do to minimise problems.
Stay sun-safe
Don't let your kids get sunburned (and don't get
burned yourself). Keep them protected with appropriate clothing and
hats, sunscreen creams, and by limiting their time in the full sun.
Outside play is safer in the early-to-mid morning, or in
mid-to-late afternoon, but watch out for the widely published "burn
time" each day and avoid it. And keep children well hydrated with
frequent small drinks of water.
If you have friends or relatives visiting
from overseas, warn them: The sun burns much more severely in New
Zealand than in most other countries, even on apparently dull days.
It's not the temperature of the sun that burns us, it's the
ultraviolet light (UV), and UV is able to easily penetrate through
wind and clouds.
There's another danger that is related to
the heat generated by the sun. The temperature inside a car
standing in the sun with closed windows can easily and quickly
shoot up to 30°C more than the ambient temperature. So never leave
a baby, toddler, child, or animal in such a car - even for a
minute! You may think you can quickly zip into a shop to grab one
item, but all sorts of things may delay your return.
If you're taking kids on a long car
trip:
• Keep the air flowing.
• Use sunshades to keep direct, hot sun off
children.
• Offer children frequent, small drinks of water.
• Stop for comfort stops as often as practical.
• Make sure air can circulate around a baby in a
capsule.
• Travel in the cooler parts of the day, if
possible.
Minimise mosquitoes
Summer evenings always bring out the mozzies. We're
lucky in New Zealand that itchiness is the most likely result
of a visit from a mosquito, but in recent years there have
been scares about the possibility of "imported" mosquitoes bringing
with them more serious risks, such as Ross River virus and even
Dengue Fever. But even our harmless mozzies can cause problems if
your child scratches the itch too much, because an infection can
result. As with anything else, prevention is better than cure. So
here's what you can do to minimise mosquitoes:
• Eliminate stagnant water sources around the home,
such as old flower tubs, puddles, and swings made from old car
tyres.
• Wear long-sleeved tops, and trousers, and use insect
repellent appropriately.
• Use soothing creams to help stop kids scratching if
they've been bitten, while nails clipped short help avoid severe
scratching.
Nip burns in the bud
On the beach or in the backyard, families love to
barbecue on those balmy evenings. At least gas barbies have almost
eliminated meths-fueled explosions, as impatient people tried to
light reluctant charcoal, but any hot zone creates a risk of burns.
So keep kids well away from the flames, hotplates, and
grills.
If someone's clothing catches fire, remember to "stop, drop, and
roll" to extinguish the flames urgently. The immediate treatment
for a burn is lots of running water - for 20 minutes. It doesn't
have to be very cold water, because that could leave a person
shivering with cold, but keep it flowing - for as long as possible,
while someone seeks help if necessary.
Watch children around water
Children love to visit beaches, lakes, rivers, and
pools in summer, as a way to cool off, exercise, or just plain
play. But water has its own hazards.
Too many children drown each year, and half
of them drown in a backyard pool or spa. The only way to avoid this
is to supervise children constantly when they are around
water.
Teaching children to swim and to respect
the water is helpful, but cannot be a substitute for
supervision 
and vigilance.
A toddler can drown in a mere few inches
of water, which could be found in a forgotten bucket, or an "empty"
paddling pool that sat in the rain. Keep children in sight at all
times if there is water around.
Other hazards of beaches include sea lice
and shell cuts. The former can drive you mad with itching, and some
people get relief from topical treatment such as lanacaine or a
Pinetarsol bath. There doesn't seem to be any way to avoid getting
the bites, though they sometimes seem to be more frequent when
people spend a long time splashing in the shallows, especially in
warm water.
Shells can cause nasty cuts on unprotected
feet, and a cut can become infected if left untreated. So avoid
walking barefoot over rocks that are laden with, for example,
oyster shells, and treat any cut as soon as possible by washing in
soap and water or saline, covering the cut with a plaster, and
checking daily for signs of infection.
Be wary of bees
Other concerns that tend to arise with the sunshine
and warmer weather include bees and wasps. The same colourful
flowers that attract toddlers will also attract our buzzy friends,
whether it's dahlias in the garden or daisies on the lawn. So
here's what you can do to minimise the dangers.
We all love going barefoot as much as we
can, so I'm not going to tell you to try to keep children in their
shoes - we know it's impossible! One day, when my firstborn was two
years old, I told her to sit down on the front steps while I put
shoes on her before she went into the garden. And she promptly sat
down on a bee, which stung her, of course!
Keep the lawns cut to eliminate daisy
flowers, which will cause the bees to ignore the lawn and stay in
the garden.
Wasps love food, especially sweet things
like juice and soft drinks, so don't leave them sitting around
outside unnecessarily. And keep an eye on your toddlers, steering
them away from danger spots, such as flowers frequented by
bees.
If your child is stung by a bee, take
appropriate action. A bee will leave a barbed and pulsing lance in
the skin. Don't try to grab it with tweezers or your fingers, as
you'll pump more toxin into the body. Scrape it off with a
fingernail or credit card.
There are a bunch of "old wives' tale"
remedies for bee stings, and some people swear by Stingose, but
unless there's a serious risk of a major allergic reaction, time
and loving sympathy may be the best cures. Ice can help minimise
inflammation, but don't leave it on too long as it can cause a
"burn" itself.
A wasp sting is usually more painful, but
at least the lance is withdrawn after the wasp stings (it's not
left in the skin like a bee stinger). However, a wasp can sting
multiple times, and that hurts a lot more.
About 5% of the population are seriously
allergic to bee stings, so monitor your child for unusual
symptoms, such as headache, fever, loss of consciousness, severe
swelling of the face, tongue, lips and body, muscle cramps, and
dificulty breathing. Seek professional medical help immediately if
the person tells you they are allergic, or if the symptoms
develop.
Keep safety in mind
If, after reading all of the above, you're
exhausted, frightened, and can't wait for safe old winter to come
around again, just remember to keep it all in perspective. Summer
is a great time for families, and will be even more enjoyable if
you just keep safety in mind.
Go on a first aid course as soon as you
can, one that includes infant, child, and adult CPR instruction, so
that you're equipped to respond if an emergency situation does
arise.
If there's one common theme to keeping safe
this summer, it's supervision - always keep an eye on your children
and what they're up to.
Dawn Molloy, a mother and a nurse for more than 30 years, and
now a grandmother to seven delightful toddlers, started
Family First Aid in 2005 to make first aid
training accessible to as many people as possible. Keeping kids
safe is what drives her, and her passion comes through in the
hundreds of courses she delivers each year.
Visit www.familyfirstaid.co.nz
to find out more.
As seen in OHbaby!
magazine Issue 4: 2009
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