Fire safety group offers burn prevention tips
During Burn Awareness Week, which began Sunday, Feb. 4, and runs through Saturday, Feb. 10, the nonprofit Illinois Fire Safety Alliance reminds Illinois residents to think about burn prevention in their daily lives.
Burn Awareness Week provides an opportunity for burn fire and life safety educators to unite in sharing a common burn awareness and prevention message in their communities.
The Illinois Fire Safety Alliance stresses the importance of fire safety, scald prevention, and other measures that prevent burns to infants, children, and adults not only during this awareness week, but throughout the entire year.
"Through public education, we can reduce the number of burn injuries and the associated medical costs being sustained by residents in Illinois," says Illinois Fire Safety Alliance Executive Director Philip Zaleski.
According to the American Burn Association, an estimated 450,000 burn injuries are treated annually in the United States, and approximately 40,000 hospitalizations were required for those injuries. One out of every three burn injuries are the result of hot liquids, or scalds.
A few safety tips to help prevent scald burns and injuries include:
• Set water heater temperatures no higher than 120°F and test temperatures before bathing.
• Do not leave children unattended in bathtubs or allow them to sit near faucet handles.
• Create a "No Kid Zone" in the kitchen around stoves and ovens; place pots and pans on back burners with handles turned away from edges.
• Stir and test microwaved food before serving; open heated containers away from you, back to front.
• Use travel mugs with tightfitting lids for hot drinks; keep hot drinks away from edges of tables and counters.
• Do not allow appliance cords (slow cookers, deep fryers, coffee makers), to dangle over countertops.
"The annual cost of burn injuries and deaths in the United States equates to hundreds of millions of dollars. With that being said, we have the tools and resources to make a difference in preventing burn injuries and deaths, as well as the staggering property damage and medical costs associated with them. We must spread the prevention message, use the knowledge, and practice it in our daily lives," Zaleski said.
To learn more about fire safety and burn prevention, visit the Illinois Fire Safety Alliance website, www.IFSA.org.
Since 1982, the Illinois Fire Safety Alliance, a Mount Prospect-based 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization, has been promoting and disseminating fire safety and burn prevention materials and resources.
The Illinois Fire Safety Alliance also hosts a variety of support programs for burn survivors, including the Young Adult Summit, Family Day and Camp "I Am Me," a unique weeklong camp for children who have experienced severe burn injuries.
For information, visit www.IFSA.org.