Summer Safety Tips

[bablondie]

Just a list of summer safety tips as a reminder to keep my friends and loved ones safe!

1. Never go to sleep or leave the house with the dryer on. Too much of a fire hazard (and yes, I have seen dryers go up in flames before!). We only run our dryer if someone is up and can make sure that it's working properly. I never go out of town or anywhere with the dishwasher on, either (I've seen neighbors do that and then come home to a flood!).

2. Never, ever use an outdoor grill indoors. That creates carbon monoxide poisoning and can kill! You'd be surprised how often this happens! Not charcoal kinds, not propane kinds...etc!

3. Get a carbon monoxide detector. I have one after my friend's whole family almost died. Her husband was very tired after coming home from an overnight shift and left the car on in the garage. They all got sleepy and sick....carbon monoxide poisoining! They have detectors now! Even after the ambulance got there, they couldn't find out what was going on...the car was very quiet!!!

4. Never leave windows or doors open on hot days and then walk out of the room. Intruders can easily get in! Every time I leave the room, I close the windows or doors, even if it's a patio (and yes, I've seen guys easily jump up to 2 or 3 story balconies in a matter of seconds with ease! and I've seen bikes stolen off 3rd floor balcony apartments!). If I leave my house, I pull the AC out of the window and close the window. I have window locks. It's inconvenient, but safe. I don't know how many people keep their back patio door open and then go take a shower....

5. Never leave windows open when you have kids (if you have a 2nd or 3rd floor!). Get window locks or locks that only open the window a couple of inches so the child cannot fall out! This happens around my area about 5 kids per summer! IT's common! I don't even trust my son and know he could probably easily slide a window open and we have 2 and 3 stories. So I have window locks, I have them in locked open positions (a few inches only) and we have cut dowels for the windows as well so they can only open a few inches in all windows. In our bedroom, I have placed furniture (dressers) in front of the window and dowels so he can never go near or get to the window and it is never allowed to be open with kids anywhere near our bedroom (bedroom is off limits to kids mostly anyway).

6. Lock things up for kids. It's easy to go to your local store and with a simple drill to put in a few locks. I have a lock on the outside of my bedroom so that when we are downstairs, my son doesn't go run into my bedroom and get into things. I have locks on closets and one of the bathrooms, so he can't wander in there at night and get into stuff. I had to use gates in halls, etc until he was 3 for worry he would wander the house and get into stuff while I was sleeping.

7. Sunblock....use it! No matter how "tan" you are. My DD is very tan being half Hawaiian and she wears sunblock religiously.

8. Don't leave dogs or children in hot cars even for a few minutes!!! Ever!

9. Wear your life jacket in the water, or boating, you and your kids! Be a good example.

10. Make sure your kids ALWAYS wear their helmets, whether rollerblading, scootering, biking, skatboarding, etc. My son has worn one on his trike since he could get on the thing: it's just good practice. I've seen too many people with head injuries from snowboarding, motorcycling, and even electric scooters.

11. ADD YOUR OWN SAFETY TIPS!!!