Safe children: together we’ve got this!

Child Safety Week 4th – 10th June 2018

Leading up to Child Safety Week 2018, we’ve asked our friends at the Child Accident Prevention Trust, to explain why this annual campaign is so important.

Every year in England, 55 children under five die from unintentional injuries in and around the home. There are also 40,000 emergency hospital admissions in England each year due to accidents at home among under-fives, and 370,000 visits to A&E departments. Burns and scalds are one of the five main causes of preventable serious injuries to children under five.

There are strong associations between social deprivation and unintentional injuries. Children from the most deprived areas have hospital admission rates 37% higher than children from the least deprived areas.

Anyone working with the aftermath of serious burns and scalds will have a very real sense of the prevalence of the problem and will know, only too well, the impact such accidents can have on families. Child Safety Week aims to stop serious accidents from happening by encouraging simple changes in family life.

One of the specific objectives of Child Safety Week is to equip professionals with knowledge, information and resources that enable to them to deliver effective safety messages to the families they work with. We supply a free downloadable poster, action pack and parents pack, plus regular emails and Facebook posts to share.

It is our experience that prevention messages delivered in a timely way and from a trusted source stand the most chance of having an impact on family behaviour, particularly to those parents whose children are at greatest risk.

The theme for Child Safety Week 2018 is Safe children: together we’ve got this! It reflects the fact that working together is a cornerstone of Child Safety Week. Providing a platform for professionals in the community to come together means relationships can be formed and cemented, and can continue to effectively serve local needs far beyond Child Safety Week. Professionals echoing safety messages to families raises local awareness, stimulates discussion and encourages change.

Simple measures such as displays in waiting rooms, a conversation offering practical solutions to common risks such as hot drinks scalds or hair straightener burns, or multi-agency events with activities and demonstrations to attract the wider community – these are all effective in helping to raise awareness amongst local families. The Child Safety Week action pack offers a range of practical activity ideas to help you run engaging sessions with parents and carers.

It’s so easy to add your voice to the call. The Child Safety Week resources are free and can be downloaded from the website www.capt.org.uk/child-safety-week. Following and sharing posts on social media couldn’t be simpler or quicker www.facebook.com/ChildAccidentPreventionTrust.

So please do something to support this Child Safety Week and help us prove that, when it comes to safe children, together we have got this!