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ANN ARBOR,
MI - An estimated 30 children under the age of 12 will visit
the University of Michigan Health
System's emergency department this summer with a life-altering
foot, hand, face or lower extremity injury or amputation caused
by a lawn mower - wounds that are completely preventable with a
little education and common sense.
 In
most cases, says Becky D'Agostino, RN, a charge nurse in the C.S.
Mott Children's Hospital recovery rooms, parents didn't realize
that having a child sit on a riding mower with them or even having
a child in the yard while they're cutting the lawn was dangerous.
She and other UMHS nurses and pediatricians at Mott hope they can
inform other parents of the dangers before more accidents occur.
"It's
usually not until it's too late and their child is seriously hurt
that a parent says they'd wish they'd known about the dangers sooner,"
D'Agostino says. "Lawn mowers really have the potential to
do great harm to the body, but so many people just don't understand
that."
Each summer,
U-M pediatricians and the U-M nursing staff at Mott see the devastating
effects lawn mower injuries can have on children, ages 2 - 12, and
their parents - reconstructive surgery, long hospital stays, and
permanent disfigurement and disability.
This year,
the group is taking steps to help prevent some of the 2,300 lawn
mower injuries that the American
Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons estimates children will
sustain this summer as the result of lawn mower incidents, by providing
parents with safety tips.
Tip 1: Keep
the kids indoors while you mow
Although it's usually a struggle to keep kids inside during the
warm summer months, it's the first and most important step to keeping
them safe while the lawn mower is on.
Several serious
injuries can occur if children are in the yard while the mower is
running. There's the risk that a parent might accidentally run over
a child's hand or foot if he or she is playing too close to the
mower, or if the lawn is wet and the child slips under the mower.
Plus, there's always the chance that an object like a twig or a
stone will fly out of the mower and strike the child.
"A child
is just not safe in the yard when a mower is on," warns Frances
Farley, M.D., assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at the U-M
Medical School, who has operated on many children injured by lawn
mowers. "When the mower's running, a parent can't hear the
child and, in some cases with riding mowers, they can't see the
if the child is behind them."
More than half
of all of the mower injuries that Farley cares for each summer involve
a child who has been backed over by a riding mower. In most riding
mowers, the blade is still engaged in reverse, causing parents,
relatives or neighbors to do serious harm to a unseen child standing
or sitting behind the mower.
Tip 2: Riding
mowers aren't built for two
It may seem like fun for kids to co-pilot the riding mower with
mom and dad, but in most cases, it's an accident waiting to happen.
"Riding
mowers are not designed for two people," says Farley. "They're
unstable, especially on inclines, and if a child's on it with an
adult, there's always the risk for falling off and sliding under
the mower. Parents always thing their child is safe in their lap,
but that's never the case."
And although
most mowers have a safety feature which shuts off the engine when
the rider gets off or falls off, that same feature will not be activated
if just the child falls off.
In any circumstance,
regardless of age, no riders other than the operator should be on
a riding mower. In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics encourages
parents not to allow children under the age of 16 to even operate
riding mowers, and suggests that no child under the age of 12 use
a push mower.
Tip 3: Ways
keep mom and dad safe, too
Adults operating lawn mowers are just as much at risk for injuries
as their children.
Before adults
even turn on the mower, they should make sure they have on proper
hearing and eye protection, and that they're wearing sturdy shoes,
not sandals or sneakers. In addition, don't forget to go around
the yard and pick up loose objects in the lawn to prevent objects
from projecting out of the mower. Also, remember to turn the mower
off before crossing over gravel paths or roads, to avoid flying
stones.
With more than
22 percent of lawn mower injuries involving the hand, fingers or
wrist, Farley says to always make sure the engine is off and the
mower blade has completely stopped rotating before attempting to
remove debris from the mower or make adjustments to it.
Farley also
encourages all adults to read their user's manual before operating
the mower. Knowing how the machine operates will help avoid injury
to both children and adults. "The main thing to remember is
all lawn mower injuries are completely preventable," she says.
"These aren't just freak accidents. They're extremely serious
and in most cases they change a child's or an adult's life forever."
Written
by: Krista Hopson
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