10 Tips for Safety and Avoiding Accidents

In a survey a few years ago, the Consumer Product Safety Commission found at least one safety problem with cribs, pools, and playgrounds in 82% of U.S. hotels randomly chosen for inspection. Overseas the risk of accidents for travelers is greater, especially in developing countries.

1. Think safety.

Most accidents are preventable - but only with forethought. Reevaluate your concepts of safety. At home you instinctively sense hazardous situations involving your children. Away from home, hazards exist in unexpected places.

2. Baby-proof hotel rooms and other premises.

Look to see if lamps can be pulled off night tables. Carry safety plugs for light sockets. Don't leave luggage on the floor where it can be tripped over. Leave a light burning at night. Check balcony doors. Overseas, some balcony railings allow infants to crawl underneath railings. Some railings are so low that older children can topple over them.

Children have been scalded in hotel bathrooms. Modern hotel plumbing can be confusing. Overseas different letters are used for hot and cold.

4. Stop at visitors' centers in national parks.

Information is available on safe activities, areas to avoid, hazards to look for, weather forecasts, and emergency telephone numbers. In the wilderness, the most common sources of injuries are automobiles, falls, knives and axes, and cooking fires. Health and safety information regarding children is often posted in amusement parks, on cruise ships, and at ski slopes, for example.

5. Check the health and safety features of new activities.

Family vacations are times for new experiences - snowmobiling, scuba diving, and parasailing, to mention just a few. Most require training, proper equipment, and age or size limits. Virtually all sport activities have national associations with website that give safety information. Many accident-prone activities take place in areas with no medical services.

6. Have children wear life vests when playing near the water.

Almost three-fourths of family vacations involve time spent near water. Most children who drown or near-drown were not supposed to get wet. They wandered away from family picnics, were walking along a canal, or slipped crossing streams, for example. At pools and beaches, check if lifeguards are present (don't rely on signs) and if the guards are attentive. Also check the depth of the water before diving. Stated depth may not extend far from signs. Partially filled pools reduce depths.

7. Wear appropriate footwear on beaches and when walking in the water.

Sand hides sharp objects. Water hides various small sea creatures that can afflict uncomfortable injuries.

8. Stop the car if children get unwieldy.

Roughhousing in the back seat, even when friendly, is distracting to the driver. Children have landed in the driver's lap. Don't leave heavy objects on the back ledge in case of sudden stops. Remind children not to exit the car without permission at your destination. Their enthusiasm often overcomes rational thinking.

9. Children able to cross streets at home may need supervision to do so overseas.

The incidence of automobile-related accidents in developing countries is far greater than in the U.S. Drivers often are poorly trained and do not obey traffic signs, roads are poorly constructed, law enforcement is lax, and in some countries traffic moves on the opposite side of the street.

10. Keep a leash on your dog.

Dogs are integral parts of many families and go along on vacations. Some react atypically to new surroundings, around wild animals in the wilderness, for example. Younger children have been injured attempting to retrieve pets that suddenly bolted.