Fire service visit North Wales hospitals to raise awareness of Child Safety Week

Staff at North Wales Fire and Rescue Service have been visiting hospitals across the region as part of Child Safety Week.

The annual campaign by the Child Accident Prevention Trust aims to raise awareness of the risks of child accidents and how they can be prevented.

Between June 3rd and 9th staff have been visiting the children’s wards at the Ysbyty Gwynedd Hospital, Ysbyty Glan Clwyd Hospital and Ysbyty Wrexham Maelor Hospital as well as local schools to talk to young people about how to stay safe.

Kevin Roberts, senior fire safety manager for North Wales Fire and Rescue Service, said: “The fire and rescue service is here to keep people safe, but in addition to responding to incidents when the do occur, we understand the value of preventing the incident from happening in the first place. As a result, we also do a huge amount of work to prevent accidents from happening as part of our Safe and Well checks.

“We are supporting Child Safety Week in a bid to encourage parents, guardians or carers to think about how they can put simple measures in place to safeguard children against anything from minor accidents to serious harm and injury.

“We work hard throughout the year supporting campaigns and coordinating educational school visits, but Child Safety Week is a fantastic opportunity to spread the word on safety as wide as possible.

Kevin has issued the following key messages to help keep children safe:

• Fit a smoke alarm – Fitting a smoke alarm and involving the children in testing it regularly can help keep them fire-aware and provide the vital seconds you need to escape a fire in your home. You should have one on each level of your home and test it weekly. If your smoke alarm keeps going off accidentally while you are cooking, don’t remove the batteries. Instead move the alarm or change it for one with a silencer button.

• Nominate your child to be the ‘Escape champion’ – Regularly role-play escape routes and give children the responsibility of keeping escape routes clear.

• Don’t let your child play with fire – Keep candles, lighters and matches well out of children’s reach, and never leave burning candles unattended.

• Keep safe in the kitchen – Make sure children know that the kitchen is not a play area – never leave younger children alone in the kitchen when you are cooking and never let them play near the oven and hob.

• Socket safety – Teach children not to poke anything, including fingers, into sockets.

• Get ‘key clever’ – encourage your children to check that keys are in the correct place. Keys for windows and doors should always be kept in an accessible place so you can get out quickly in the event of a fire.

• Discuss how to call 999 – Make sure children know which number to call in an emergency. They should also know their address. You can pin both up by the phone; explain the importance of only calling 999 in a real emergency.

• Teach children that in the event of a fire they should follow the advice below – ‘Get out, Stay out, and Call 999!’ Don’t delay for valuables, don’t investigate or try to tackle the fire. Use a mobile, a neighbour’s phone or a phone box to call 999. If someone needs to be rescued wait safely outside for the firefighters who have the equipment and training to do it. Never go back in.

• Cross roads safely – teach children how to cross the road safely.

• Travel safely by car – Always wear a seat belt and always strap children into car seats.