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Amanda Wilde (Host): This is Children's Health Checkup where we answer parents' most common questions about raising healthy and happy kids. I'm Amanda Wilde, and my guest is Jesus Alderete, Program Manager of Injury Prevention at Children's Health. We're talking about avoiding common summer injuries and accidents with kids.

We'll cover boating, biking, pool, and playground safety, and maybe some alternatives to traditional summer activities like fireworks. Jesus, thank you so much for being here.

Jesus Alderete, BS, CPSTI, CHWI: Thank you, Amanda. Good morning.

Host: Good morning. I think about how kids, and most of us love summertime for all kinds of outdoor activities, but along with an increase in those activities, there is also an increased risk of injury.

I notice, for example, scraping the knee is more common with kids just because knees are more exposed in the summer. What types of injuries in kids do you tend to see more in the summertime?

Jesus Alderete, BS, CPSTI, CHWI: Absolutely. So, you know, it's funny that even with the seasons changing, so does injuries and statistically speaking, drowning is of course, at the top of the list for kids injury. This goes from non-fatal to fatal drownings.

Host: Well, obviously kids are more out there on the water during the summertime. What is the cause of those drownings and related water injuries?

Jesus Alderete, BS, CPSTI, CHWI: Sure, of course, summer being hot, it's Texas weather, so we are used to going and refreshing in different ways. The pool, lakes are very inviting. It's a good way to get the families together. And so with that, all the hype and activity and excitement from both parents, caregivers and kids, it's very easy to not think about things that could go wrong, right? We're so excited. We're planning on making sure we don't forget sunscreen, we're not forgetting any kids, pets, food, snacks, all of this. And we tend to forget about what can we do as parents, caregivers to make sure that we are all having fun and safe. Unfortunately, supervision, it's the number one cause for a lot of these injuries.

Parents get distracted. Kids get excited, kids not knowing how to properly behave in and around the water as well as parents. This can be a pool party where unfortunately the most common mistake is not communicating amongst caregivers and parents who's going to be watching the kids. We assume that somebody is because there's 4, 5, 6, maybe 10 adults, and we just assume that somebody's watching. But the reality is that nobody's really watching because we never had those conversations.

Host: So would you say supervision is the number one safety precaution we can take?

Jesus Alderete, BS, CPSTI, CHWI: Absolutely, supervision. Making sure that parents and caregivers know the kids' ability in and around the water. Making sure the kids know how to behave. It sounds funny, but in reality, teaching kids how to behave in and around the water kind of goes hand in hand with being polite, asking mom, dad, can I get in the water? We teach in the community a saying it's high five before you dive, meaning that the kids go and high five before you dive to a parent. And this is just a good indication or an alert for the parents that, Hey, my kid, is going to be in the water. I need to actively watch my kids.

Host: Children's has a program dedicated to water safety. Know Before You Go, I believe you founded that program.

Jesus Alderete, BS, CPSTI, CHWI: We did, we started the program many, many years ago, about 20 years or more. The name of the program, it's Know Before You Go, and we do have a dedicated website. It's KnowBeforeYougo.org. The intent of this website is to be able to provide families and caregivers with information and tips and ideas on how to be safe in and around the water.

It goes everything from what a water watcher is, how to implement it when parents and caregivers attend pool parties, or the lake or the ocean, any open bodies of water. Teach and test. We do have resources where parents can take the kids and have their kids' ability be tested, including enrolling them in swim classes and then of course the right equipment.

That's something that's very easily overlooked because we don't know what type of equipment we should take. We think about life jackets, but it's not just any life jacket. It needs to be a very specific life jacket. It really needs to be one that it's approved by the Coast Guard, one that fits the kid properly to their weight, because all the life jackets are different. They need to be specific to the child's weight.

Host: Totally makes sense when you think about it. Like a safety belt.

Jesus Alderete, BS, CPSTI, CHWI: Yes, like car seats too.

Host: Exactly. Exactly. Bike rides, playgrounds and scooters are also big summer favorites. Do you have some equivalent safety tips, like the ones you just gave about water safety that helps kids avoid falls and head injuries from everything with wheels?

Jesus Alderete, BS, CPSTI, CHWI: Absolutely. So a lot like water or life jackets, the right equipment, it's essential for being able to prevent injuries. We cannot necessarily prevent falls from skateboard, scooters, or bikes, but what we can do is actually provide parents with probably a checklist of the things that they should consider before having the kids go on into it.

Do any wheel activity. The first one would be, does your child have the right helmet for the right activity? I know helmets can seem the same to a lot of us, but in reality, a lot of those helmets are designed specific for different activities. The bike helmets are not the same for skateboard. Skateboards can use the same for scooters.

ATVs is another one, very different helmets. That is one. The other one, if those kids are using their bicycles, doing a maintenance check on their bikes, making sure that your child has the right bike according to their height. There should be at least two to three inches of space of their body between the bike and their legs.

The other one is of course, do the brakes work? Do they have retroreflective gear on the bike to make sure that drivers are able to see those kids and the bikes? And then of course, teaching the kids where and how to ride the bikes. Not on the streets. If there are designated areas where the city does have allowed those areas to be bike designated, those are one, in the parks. You need to be sure that they're on the right side of the trails.

Host: So that's a really good checklist. Proper equipment that is appropriate to the activity, awareness of the setting you'll be in. Knowing your kids' ability level. I love having the checklists. That's sort of like the phrase know before you go, but you know, just having that checklist would be a real comfort to me to know, okay, we've covered all these things. Some of the more traditional summer activities, I'm thinking like fireworks and trampolines and even like archery and barbecues are fun, but they can be linked to serious injuries as well. So what advice do you give families about enjoying some of those summer traditions more safely?

Jesus Alderete, BS, CPSTI, CHWI: Absolutely. So thinking ahead of the holidays, the 4th of July, being, unfortunately in our hospitals, statistics being one of the biggest holidays where you see an increase of both drowning and injuries due to fireworks. We always tell parents, try to plan in advance. If there are places that professionals are having a firework displays, that's obviously option number one that reduces the amount of injuries or risk that your kids can sustain, versus them popping fireworks themselves.

And then the other one, fire, having identify a community based programming where they can go and attend from a safe distance and let the professionals do the work. It's definitely, option number one. The other one would be making sure that if you're grilling or if you're attending a pool party, we go back to make sure that you come in, communicate amongst parents and caregivers.

Who's in charge of watching your kids? It doesn't always need to be the same person. They can rotate. A water watcher type would be a good way to initiate that conversation, making sure that you have the right equipment. Identify a responsible adult to watch over the kids for an extended amount of time.

 It's a lot like a lifeguard when they rotate every 15 minutes. Adults can do the same thing. It's just so easy for us to assume that somebody else is watching. In reality, drowning occurs fast and is silent. Drowning is not like the movies, it's not an event you're going to hear splashing and yelling. It's the complete opposite. It's fast and it's silent.

So that's why we always advise parents active supervision, making sure that you have rules with your kids. I don't know if you do this, Amanda, but with my kids, before we head anywhere, including visiting friends, we sit down with our kids and we say, Hey, these are the expectation where we're going to somebody's house.

I don't want you to do X, Y, Z. Attending a pool party should be the same. I want you to come and check with me every so often. I want to be sure that you, know the dangers that exist in and around the pool. No running, no horse playing. Make sure come and ask me every so often. Hey, mom, dad, can you see me? Watch me do this. Watch me do this. I know for some of us as parents it can be a little bit a nuisance, but it's a way that I taught my kids to make sure that we are actually actively watching them in the water and be safe.

Host: I like that because you co-opt the kids into establishing safety habits together.

Jesus Alderete, BS, CPSTI, CHWI: Correct. Asking permission. It's probably one of the things that we don't associate. Kids assume that just because you're taking the in the pool that they can spend all day in and out of the pool without actually checking in or asking.

Host: Now you touched on this already in your last answer. If you had to give parents just a few simple rules or habits to help keep kids safe this summer, what would they be? A checklist for the checklist, so to speak?

Jesus Alderete, BS, CPSTI, CHWI: To me, that would be think in advance of the activities that you're doing with your kids. Know the abilities that your kids have in whatever activity it is that you're doing. Have a safety plan. What could you do in case of any incident occurring? More importantly, what do you think you can do as a parent or caregiver to reduce those risk of kids being involved and getting injured? So one would be the activity that my kids are doing. The abilities that my kids, have physically, mentally, developmental to do any of those activities and then to do I have the right equipment to be able to keep them safe.

Amanda Wilde (Host): Jesus, thank you so much for sharing these great insights into summer safety and injury prevention. I think armed with this information, we can be much safer going forward. As a kid, what was one of your favorite summer activities?

Jesus Alderete, BS, CPSTI, CHWI: Oh, for mine, of course it would've been the pool and bike riding. That was freedom all on its own. And so I was lucky enough to not have involved severe injuries, but I can tell you as a kid, we feel invincible and we have zero fear. So, scraped knees, like we mentioned at the beginning, some falls here and there.

But I was always very respectful of the water just because, at a young age, my parents were able to talk to me about the dangers that exist in and around the water.

Host: Yeah. We really need to be reminded of that as adults too.

Jesus Alderete, BS, CPSTI, CHWI: Yes. It's so easy to get distracted. What we believe checking our phones, and this is something that we see. Checking our phones. It's our lifeline to the world. And so in scenarios like going to the park, or going to the pool; it's so easy for us to think that it takes a second or two and maybe taking a picture, and then later taking that picture, finding the right filter, finding the right social media outlet to put it in, your hashtag, your comments.

You would spend already five to 10 minutes without actually taking your eyes off the phone. Meanwhile, your kids could have been involved in a risk or getting injured because we were so distracted watching down into our phones.

Host: I think one of the safest summer activities you can do has to do with eating ice cream. What do you think about that? It's kind of soft.

Jesus Alderete, BS, CPSTI, CHWI: I think that's the best one for all. We love it. We are actually into our summer rampage of ice cream places. We try to find new places every so often, but there's so much more enjoyable by the pool.

Host: Great hobby. Thank you again, Jesus.

Jesus Alderete, BS, CPSTI, CHWI: Thank you for your time. Thank you for having me.

Host: For more

summer safety tips, visit children's.com/summersafety. If you found this podcast helpful, please rate and review or share the episode and please follow Children's Health on your social channels. Thank you for listening to Children's Health Checkup.