Top 10 Dangers in Your Home
By Editorial Staff
Contributed by Cindi Pearce, Catalogs.com Top 10 Guru
Your home should be the safest place in the world. It’s where you live, eat, sleep and relax. However, this isn’t always the case.
Every year there are more than 21 million visits made to the emergency room or the doctor due to home accidents. Nearly 20,000 people die annually as the result of an accident that occurred in the home. Those who are most at risk are the elderly and children. Here are the top ten dangers in your home, starting with the most obvious and going to a couple which might surprise you.
All of these dangers can lead to injuries and even death:
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10. Swimming pools and bath tubs
Approximately, 9,000 people drown each year in the United States. If you have a swimming pool in your yard make sure that it is fenced, and that you have installed every safety precaution imaginable. Make the perimeter invincible so that small children do not have access to the pool. Hot tubs and bathtubs are equally dangerous. Never leave a small child unintended in the tub or shower. If an elderly person lives in the home, install handrails and handicapped aides in the tub or shower to assist him and prevent him from falling. Hundreds of people die each year due to drowning in a bathtub because they’ve fallen and knocked themselves unconscious.
9. Fire
Thousands of people die each year in house fires. Install smoke alarms. Have fire extinguishers on hand. Get your wiring checked. Have your fireplace chimney and flue inspected before you use it. Discuss an escape plan with your children in the event that a fire breaks out.
8. Stairs
Falling up or down stairs might not kill you, but it can. In fact, more than 1000 people die each year because of a fall down the stairs. Even if not fatal, it is certainly hard on elderly people whose bones break easily and end up in pain and hospitalized. Make sure that the stairwell is well lit and there are handrails. If the floor is slick put down pads.
7. Carbon monoxide
This is the silent killer. It’s a deadly gas that can kill you in your sleep because you cannot smell it. It is colorless, odorless and poisonous. Approximately, 170 people die each year in the United States because of C0 poisoning. Buy carbon monoxide detectors and alarms and install them ASAP.
6. Choking and strangulation
Each year, more than 1000 children die because they become entangled in curtain cords or choke to death because they’ve swallowed an object. Never place a crib or child’s bed next to a window where there are dangling cords. Remove small objects that a child may put in his mouth and then choke on.
5. Suffocation hazards
Nearly 30 children died each year because they have suffocated. Many of the suffocations are product-related. Infants can get their faces buried in a mattress, pillow or infant cushion of wedged between the mattress and the bed rail. If the baby is sleeping with his parents and one of the other rolls on top of him this will suffocate the child. Do not leave plastic bags lying around. Never leave the dryer or refrigerator doors open because a baby might crawl in and become trapped.
4. Exposure to chemicals from household products
Thousands of people die from exposure to toxic household chemicals each year. Indoor air pollution is suspected as the culprit in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) which claims 5,000 infants each year. Keep your use of chemicals in the home at a minimum and never mix chemicals that shouldn’t be mixed because this can be fatal.
3. Accidental poisoning by drug overdose
Take your medication as prescribed. Never leave it where it can be accessed by small children.
2. Falling out of a window
Every year, approximately 18 children die from falling out of a window. Make sure that your windows are secured and can’t be opened by children. If there are screens in your window cannot be budged.
1. Baby walkers
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Each year babies die from walker-related accidents. The baby is hurt, sometimes fatally, when the baby walker tips over while the child is in it or the child falls down the stairs while in the walker. Head injuries often occur and they can prove fatal.