This Makes You Think

Northern Advocate, 27 September 1943, Page 5

This Makes You Think

HOME HEALTH GUIDE

(By the Department of Health) Recently attention has been drawn to the appallingly large nuhaber of accidents that occur in the home, particularly to children. At present the New Zealand hospitals have a disturbing number of young folk who have been victims of painful mishaps in their homes. An analysis recently made in Britain gives emphasis to the need foi using care and forethought where the welfare of the young are concerned and it points an unforgettable lesson. In 1153 fatal home and everyday accidents (excluding highway and industrial accidents) it was found that half were due to falls, nearly onefifth to burns and scalds, and on»tenth to drowning. Other common causes were blows of various kinds, asphyxia, electrocution, misuse oi firearms, poisoning and explosions. Of the 582 victims of falls, 395 wore over 65 years of age, and only a small proportion of the falls were due to such special war conditions as the blackout. Eighty per cent of the scalding cases occurred in children under four years of age —mostly babies who had been left near teapots of kettles of boiling water which they pulled over' on themselves. Of the 143 cases of burning, 44 were children, ■ the general causes being unguarded fires, playing with fires or lighted candles. They were victims of electrocution, seven of them as the result of a combination of faulty apparatus and dampness—as, for example, ironing with a faulty iron while standing on a wet floor. -These tragedies do not take account of the non-fatal cases in which pain or prolonged suffering is the toll of carelessness. Proper lighting of stairs and hallways, proper guarding of fires, and more thoughtful consideration where children and age are concerned, will many of these accidents.