Summer Activities Can Bring Many Dangers for Missoula Children

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - School is almost out, and that means kids will soon be out and about, playing, riding bikes, and swimming.

So, it’s up to us grownups to do everything we can to keep kids safe this summer, and that’s why I called Kira Huck, Executive Director at Community Health Alliance, and the Safe Kids Montana State Office Director.

Huck first reminded parents and caregivers about the dangers of leaving kids in car seats in the back seat while we’re distracted by using the acronym A-C-T.

Kira Huck on Car Safety for Children

“‘A’ means to avoid heatstroke by never leaving a child alone in the car unattended,” began Huck. “That also means locking your car when it's not in use. ‘C’ is to create reminders, whether that's putting a reminder on your phone so that when you get to work it goes off to make sure your child has been dropped off wherever they need to be. Then ‘T’ is taking action and that's it. If you do see a child in a hot car unattended, please call 9-1-1. They're trained to respond to these incidents. It's better to just be safe than sorry and make sure that help is available if needed.”

Huck has a special term for summer from the perspective of child safety.

40 Percent of Kids Injuries Happen in Summer

“Summer is actually what we call trauma season,” she said. “I think 40 percent of all unintentional injuries take place in these summer months. Oftentimes, that's just because with kids, there might be a little less supervision because they're maybe home from school or daycare for the summer, but they’re also just more active in the summer. That means making sure that anything that a child should not be accessing without adult supervision is out of their reach.”

Life Jackets are the Best Way for Kids to be Safe on Water

Of course, no safety message would be complete without mentioning water safety.

“We also really like to talk about water safety in the summer, especially here in Montana where we love to enjoy our lakes and rivers making sure that you are providing active supervision to a child anytime they're around water,” she said. “If you feel your child is developmentally ready, get them in swimming lessons as soon as you can, and then also use protective barriers and devices when needed if you do have a pool in your home, making sure they can't access that when there's not an adult present. If you are on open water like a lake or river, always making sure that they have a U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jacket.”

Click here to find out more important child safety tips.