Have a                   Safe and                 Happy                    Fourth!                                                                                                                

Every 4th of July families get together to enjoy festivities.   For some families sparklers, firecrackers, smoke bombs and bottle rockets are given to younger family members to set off.  While sparklers seem innocent enough to give youngsters, they can actually burn at over 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit.   Plenty hot enough to catch hair and clothing on fire!      

Teens are more likely to set off firecrackers and bottle rockets.  Many times the fuses  seem to fizzle and teens will try to reignite only to find out that the firework was still lit and explodes near their hands or faces.  Many lose fingers, suffer burns or end up with diminished vision from such incidents.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reports that over 11,000 injuries were sustained in 2013 from fireworks with ¼ of those injuries caused by sparklers.   These were serious enough injuries to require medical intervention.   Thousands of home fires every year are due to fireworks as well.

It’s best to leave fireworks to the pros and take the family to one of the many fireworks displays that are in the area. 

Safer alternatives for the under 10 crowd to celebrate with are:

  • Flags 
  • Patriotic pom-poms
  • Confetti filled balloons
  • Face Painting
  • Patriotic Pinwheels 
  • Glow Sticks  
 Teen alternatives:
  • Supervised pool party
  • 5k run
  • Red, White and Blue Scavenger Hunt        
________________________________________________________         

RECALL ALERT:
Attn: Parents who purchased IKEA Dressers and Chests:
IKEA is recalling 36 million dressers and chests  due to toppling over injuries in which 6 children died because they were not anchored properly to the wall.   The furniture was manufactured between 2002 and 2016 and involves six models of MALM chests or dressers.
We remind parents that anything that a children can climb on or pull down such as dresser drawers or a television set can tip over and cause great bodily harm.  

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