For Immediate Release

Four Corners Health Department, serving Butler, Polk, Seward, and York Counties

Contact Vicki L. Duey, 402-362-2621 or toll free 877-337-3573

Date:  August 17, 2011

Title: Teach Children How To Be Safe At Home

School has started and some children will need to be home alone after school.  Parents and guardians can teach their children how to be safer at home with limited supervision or maybe none at all.

When children go home after school, have them call to check in when they get home. For an older child, talk about ground rules, such as whether other kids can come over when the parents are absent, whether cooking is an option, and whether they can leave the home.

Four Corners Health Department supports the American Red Cross tips for parents and guardians.  The following information could be added to any already existing home safety plans:

• Post an emergency phone list where the children can see it. Include 9-1-1, the parents work and cell numbers, numbers for neighbors, and the numbers for anyone else who is close and trusted.

• Identify neighbors whose home your child can go to in case of an emergency that requires your child to leave your home.

• Practice an emergency plan with the child so they know what to do in case of fire, injury, or other emergencies. Write the plan down and make sure the child knows where it is.

• Make sure the first aid kit is stocked and stored where your children can find it. Keep it out of reach of young children.

• Let children know where the flashlights are kept. Make sure that the batteries are fresh, and that the child knows how to use them.

• Remove or safely store in locked areas dangerous items like guns, ammunition, knives, hand tools, power tools, razor blades, scissors, and other objects that can cause injury.

• Make sure potential poisons like detergents, polishes, pesticides, car-care fluids, lighter fluid, and lamp oils are stored in locked cabinets or out of the reach of children.

• Make sure medicine is kept in a locked storage place or out of the reach of children.

• Install safety covers on all unused electrical outlets.

• Limit any cooking a young child can do. Make sure at least one approved smoke alarm is installed and operating on each level of the home.

• Limit the time the child spends in front of the television or computer. Activate parental controls. Use programs that limit the sites children can visit, restrict chat sites and allow parents to monitor online activity.

For more information about keeping your children safe at home, go to the American Red Cross website at www.redcross.org and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website at www.CDC.gov.