Deborah Howell (Host): As summer approaches, kids are spending more time outside, riding bikes, climbing on playgrounds, and of course walking through their neighborhoods, and that brings a higher risk of injuries. That's why we're returning to Jennifer Rodriguez from Miller Children's and Women's Hospital Injury Prevention Program.

In this episode, she shares practical safety tips every parent and caregiver should know. Welcome Jen.

Jennifer Rodriguez, CIMI, CPST: Hi, how are you guys?

Host: I'm good. It's so good to have you back, and I'm really excited about this topic because it is a good one and a necessary one.

Jennifer Rodriguez, CIMI, CPST: Yes, definitely necessary and happy to be back.

Host: Alright, let's jump right in. Why are pedestrian injuries so common among children and are there specific age groups that are more at risk?

Jennifer Rodriguez, CIMI, CPST: So when it comes to summer, especially with pedestrian injuries, you know, little ones, especially those who are under the age of 10 they're outside, you know, they're so used to being cooped inside at school. And summer is the free time the we get to be outside and run around. You just let loose and sometimes we kinda overlook the little safety precautions we should take, especially as little ones.

Host: Yeah, for sure. Now, here's a big one. How can parents teach young children to cross the street safely?

Jennifer Rodriguez, CIMI, CPST: Ooh, my favorite one. So when it comes to crossing the street from a very young age, teaching little ones that you stop at the corner or you stop wherever you're crossing, crossing at a crosswalk somewhere that it's marked for pedestrians to cross. So keep you a lot more safe.

And then it lets drivers know that, hey, that area is for crossing. Stopping right before you even step onto the street. Looking both ways, double checking and if there is a car coming, do not proceed or step off the sidewalk until they make a complete stop and have made eye contact with you or giving you some kind of nod.

This is something that's very, very vital, especially with distractions. Lots of people using their phone, they're trying to drink their drink. They're trying to hand a snack to the child in the back of their seat. So definitely having that like complete stop, eye contact and crossing when it's appropriate, or even if there is a crossing light, some people think, oh, well the light changed for me to cross. Always double check, check before you go and then double check again.

Host: That's right and that's good advice for adults as well.

Jennifer Rodriguez, CIMI, CPST: Yes, definitely.

Host: Alright, now we've crossed the street safely on our way to the playground. What types of playground injuries are most commonly seen in the emergency room?

Jennifer Rodriguez, CIMI, CPST: So when it comes to the most common playground injuries, the biggest one would have to be burns, just because most playgrounds are out in the open. Some of them may not have shade or only certain parts get shade during the time of day. As a parent, touching the equipment before you have your little ones play on it, using the back of your hand, you know, an area that doesn't really get exposed because that way you can test it. If it's too hot for you, it's way too hot for your child. Also, like looking at the playground sometimes, if you have anything kind of protruding edges looking if it has rust, things like that. Make a good little check before we start playing at the equipment.

Host: A great point. And what should parents look for when choosing a safe playground?

Jennifer Rodriguez, CIMI, CPST: First and foremost, just checking out the area, looking around, a lot of big things that are really common with kid, with playground injuries as well, is just things that are left in the sand, in the gravel or whatever flooring that they have.

Sometimes things get mixed up there, like broken glass, things like that. If it's under the shade, even better. If you see that it's a hot day, there's no shade on the playground, let's avoid it. Let's go play somewhere else. Like let's play in the grass or somewhere that's a little bit more safe.

And even if it is a shady area, you know, making sure the equipment's used correctly. Go over with your kiddos. Like, okay, hey, there's one you doing using the slide, the slide's the biggest one that everybody wants to do. Oh, let's all go down one after the other. And that's how kids get hurt. People step on each other, feet hit backs, or someone falls off. Using that equipment correctly, you know, taking that little three to five minutes, do an observation of everything and explaining to your kiddos, Hey, remember, one at a time with the slide, when you're doing the monkey bars, things like that.

Host: All right. You mentioned helmets earlier. Why is helmet use so important for kids riding bikes, scooters, or skateboards?

Jennifer Rodriguez, CIMI, CPST: So when it comes to helmet use, it's a big thing. Especially in the summer when it's, you know, it starts to heat up. Everybody wants to go outside. Everybody wants to go be on something with wheels and have fun. When it comes to helmets, it's the biggest protector to your head and lots of little ones think, oh, it's not cool.

I don't want to wear it. But you can do things to personalize your helmet, but making sure it's always safe. So making sure it's nice and snug on your head, but not too tight, shaking your head like a rockstar if it doesn't, making sure it doesn't move anywhere. Especially when you're shaking, it doesn't move more than one inch all around. That it's not choking because lots of people think, the tighter it is in their head, the better. And that's not always necessarily the issue because if it's too tight on the child's chin, it could actually cause them to suffocate and hurt their throat. So we don't want that. We want a little bit of a wiggle room.

Host: No, we don't want that. So how can parents make sure their child's helmet fits properly?

Jennifer Rodriguez, CIMI, CPST: So when it comes to, seeing if the helmet fits properly, I like to do the rule of two. When two fingers above the eyebrow line is where the helmet should fit. When you're shaking the head like a rockstar, check it, making sure that it's back and forth, forward and back. That doesn't move more than one inch in any direction.

And that one finger under the chin strap between the chin strap and your child's chin. And lastly, when it comes to the ear area, that Y should be around the ear, not on top of it, not over it. Not too low.

Host: Alright. What features should parents look for when they're buying a helmet?

Jennifer Rodriguez, CIMI, CPST: We're looking for a helmet, that has been approved through the safety board, making sure that you look for something that has been approved. I know that lots of helmets have those really cool like spikes and things popping out of them, but unfortunately when it comes to those things, they're not always the safest.

You know, a plain helmet works perfectly fine. When it comes to stickers, oh, stickers is a big one. Everybody's like, oh, but I want to put stickers on it. What happens is that if you put too many stickers on it with the heat, it could actually affect the plastic because of that sticky guck that's on it, the little like paste on it that they have on the stickers, if it heats up too much, it could actually affect the plastic of the helmet so that we don't recommend stickers on helmets.

Host: Wow. Okay. My eyes are wide open now. Okay. Alright, Jen, since you're on a roll, do you have any final tips for parents on pedestrian playground or helmet safety?

Jennifer Rodriguez, CIMI, CPST: Yeah, of course. And like I said, with playground, you know, just always being vigilant, making sure that you're supervising your little ones. You know, lots of them like, oh, well I wanna go by myself. When it comes to playgrounds, there's just so much going on.

Lots of us want to go and read a book, look at our phone, and just kind of zone out. Make sure you know where your kiddo's at because you just know. You want to make sure you know where they're at and also like if in case they get injured, have a first aid kit. There is little miniature first, first aid kits like could fit in like in a lunchbox or in a purse.

You never know when you need a bandaid. You always have one little one coming up to you. Like there's a band, like I got cut with something. So you always need a bandaid and like just taking those five minutes, look at the playground, look at the conditions. If you see that, you know what, maybe this isn't the safest place.

Look for something new. Look for a different place to go.

Host: That's brilliant. Thanks Jen. Where can parents go to learn more about injury prevention tips and resources offered at Miller Children's and Women's Hospital?

Jennifer Rodriguez, CIMI, CPST: We could always go to our website, our website at Miller Children's Women's Hospital. We do have injury prevention page, which has information about safety. We also put up, uh, different postcards and education about different subjects of safety. You could always click them and they're also available in English and Spanish, so we can always go on there or, of course, look for this wonderful podcast.

Host: Yes, of course. And once again, that's millerchildren's.org/injuryprevention for all your questions. Thanks so much, Jen, for your time and expertise today. We really enjoyed having you on the show and I feel safer for it.

Jennifer Rodriguez, CIMI, CPST: Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

Host: That's all for this time, I'm Deborah Howell. Have yourself a terrific day.