Early Childhood Burn Prevention
- In Canada, fire and burn related injuries are the 3rd leading cause of injury-related hospital admissions for children 0-4 years of age
- 1000+ children are admitted to hospital each year with burns and scalds, while thousands more are treated as outpatients.
- Children who are burned require more medical care than any other childhood injury.
- $17,200: Hospital cost to treat a typical childhood scald.
- 70% of canadian parents don’t know scalds from hot drinks and hot tap water are the cause of most burns to young children.
- Most pediatric scalds occur in the home from hot drinks and hot food.
- Adults who suffer burns as children have much higher rates of mental and physical illness.
Common Causes of Childhood Burns:
- A hot drink, that is comfortable to drink, can cause a serious scald to a child in 10 sec.
- Hot tap water at 60c (140f), the typical factory setting for hot water tanks, will cause a serious burn in less than a second.
- Glass fronted fireplaces heat up to 200c (400f) in 6 minutes and take 45 minutes to cool to a safe temperature. At this temperature, a serious burn will happen on contact.
