Monday 6 July 2009

Safety and First Aid at the cottage

In My World...
As a retired teacher - it is crowd control and safety.

Number one is prevention of accidents. That said, preparation is important in that First Aid kits, medicines, and topical antibiotics should be handy. Do ensure that that are not last year's batch and check the 'best before' date.

It is better to prevent kids from getting too much sun and and protect them from the bugs. It is easy important, though to be prepared. Once there is a bug bite or sun burn, put on ointments right away. If it is 20 minutes to the pharmacy, by boat, on a good day, if the sun is shining, you may be out of luck otherwise.

If you have an accident - and there is a wound, clean it out and cover it up and get medical help if necessary. There are lots of bacteria about. A wound should be washed and cleaned and dressed. Bacteria and viruses live in the soil. Wounds heal best if they are moist and a scab protects the site.

You can see both my blister (on my left foot) and my swollen right ankle after my tumble on a root. It was a small tumble, on a fairly flat piece of land, over a root. I wish I had thought to pack a tensor bandage, since my ankle has been severely sprained before, it is susceptible to new injuries.

IMG_2481.JPG
Have a spotter, with everyone wearing the proper safety gear. Also, do not swim alone, or allow your kids on docks alone. The little girl, above right, was alone on the dock. Her parents were 200' up the shoreline on the cottage deck.

You will never make it to them in the event of an accident, watching from above on a cottage deck.

These people were racing along side. The lake is only 400 m wide.

Danger...

Kids with fireworks blamed for fire at Stuart apartments
12:06 p.m. | Children playing with fireworks caused the fire that did an estimated $80,000 damage to The Crossings at Indian Run Apartments on Saturday, according to Frank Lasaga, community safety coordinator for the Stuart Fire Rescue Department.

16 comments:

SandyCarlson said...

Thanks for the tips. Your summer place looks idyllic.

EG CameraGirl said...

Good advice, Jenn! How sad about the fire. ;-( I'm wondering why children would have fireworks unattended by adults. (Yes, I'm hopelessly old-fashioned!)

Luiz Ramos said...

Good text. Beautiful World.

Guy D said...

Great advice Jenn, thanks for sharing.

Have a great week
Guy
Regina In Pictures

George said...

You offer some great advice that we all need to remember.

Anonymous said...

Great post with sound advice.

Leslie: said...

You're lucky to be in Lake Country! Of course, I'm lucky to be near the Pacific here in Vancouver. Isn't Canada the best?!!! :D

Carver said...

Great post and as an advanced stage melanoma survivor I liked your mentioning it being important to prevent children from getting too much sun!

Swarna said...

That's an unusual post. Good lesson though.

Anonymous said...

It's easy to get distracted while having a fun and relaxing time. Good advice to keep in mind.

erin said...

words to live by...we always carry first aid kits in our vehicles. thank goodness we've not yet had to use them. sorry to hear you tripped over a root.
enjoyed the post very much.

Jenn Jilks said...

It seems that those here on vacation forget safety, and such things as using turn signals!

We always have a safety kit in the care, but usually bury it under stuff. I have to remember to dig it out before I pack the car!

Snap said...

Good post ... things we all need reminding of. Sorry about your snapper ... :(

Yogi♪♪♪ said...

You could be a safety person. We have an 11 year old with autism who is an overconfident swimmer. We have to watch him like a hawk.

Jenn Jilks said...

Yes, swimming is so very dangerous. We have a number of drownings around here: boaters, drunk drivers.

As a (retired) special education teacher I used to have the special needs kids in my class. One year I had one autistic child, one with neurofibromatisis, Aspberger's Syndrome, Marfan's Syndrome, 5 Learning Disabled kids. I am so aware of safety issues. In my mind I will never be able to relax with people in a group. I am always on 'yard duty'!

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Jenn: Important post of the need for safety when having fun.