The bell has rung,  and school is out.  Before you turn your children loose to enjoy outdoor activities and participate in area summer camps, be sure to follow these safety recommendations for safe and enjoyable summer fun:

Sun Safety: Burn, Baby, Burn

Every parent should be mindful of sun safety, especially those with kids attending summer camp or participating in other outdoor activities.  Before you pry your kids away from their XBOX or Playstation and pack their bags, you should confirm with the camp staff that that they have measures and policies in place to prevent over exposure to the sun resulting in sunburn.

According to the American Academy of Dermatology, 80% of harmful sun exposure occurs before age 18. Despite increasingly sedentary, indoor lifestyles, kids still spend more time outdoors than many adults, especially during the summer months.  Children are too irresponsible, forgetful or ill-informed to adequately protect themselves from sunburn and must rely upon responsible adults to protect their gentle skin.

Recognizing the long-term effects of sun damage is important.  Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in the U.S.  Adults with skin cancer were often overexposed to the sun as children.  The risk of developing skin cancer as an adult can be greatly increased for those children who receive one or two blistering sunburns during adolescence.

Consider your child’s age, skin type, and level of activity when selecting sunscreen or sunblock.  By six months old, a child is ready for a waterproof sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15.  If your child is fair-skinned or prone to develop freckles, use an SPF of at least 30.  Be sure that your sunscreen is “broad-spectrum.”  Broad spectrum means that it will work on ultraviolet A (UV-A) and ultraviolet (UV-B) rays.  The shorter UV-B rays are what cause sunburn on the skin’s surface while the UV-A rays penetrate the deeper skin layers, causing skin to age.  Both types contribute to skin cancer.

Sunscreen is best applied thirty minutes before your child goes outside to allow absorption time.  Be sure to cover all exposed areas including tops of ears, feet, hands, and the back of their necks.  Also, be mindful when using spray-on sunscreen, as uneven application can leave you with bizarre looking, uneven burns on your back.

Prior to the first day of camp, be sure to unequivocally demand that the camp’s directors ensure that your kid gets all of the sun protection that he or she needs in your absence. Moreover, even in your absence, other methods to ensure that your kids will have adequate sun protection include wearing a wide-brimmed or straw hat, bandana, sun glasses, pancho, and long sleeve shirts in breathable summer fabrics.

Daily use of sunscreen should become habit for your child.  Children, however, often do not want to interrupt fun to protect their skin.  Therefore, before you deliver your child to Camp Firewood, make time to discuss sun safety with your child and the camp staff to prevent immediate burning and long-term negative consequences.

The Great Outdoors: Mosquitoes, Chiggers, and Ticks – Oh My!

Summer wouldn’t be summer without insects.  With increased temperatures, many insects become very active.  Mosquitoes, chiggers, gnats, horseflies and ticks can be annoying and sometimes pose a serious risk to public health.   Mosquitoes transmit diseases like equine and West Nile virus, as well as malaria.  Chiggers, while they don’t carry disease, can cause a lingering painful bite which may result in an infection and discomfort.  Ticks can transmit diseases like Lyme disease, which stems from the transmission of infectious Borrelia bacterium.  Having an insect repellant is imperative and will discourage these pests from landing on you and your children.

Whether you choose an aerosol, liquid, cream or lotion form of insect repellant, the EPA recommends taking the following precautions when using insect repellant:

• Repellants should be applied only to exposed skin and/or clothing (as directed on the product label).  Do not use under clothing.
• Never use repellants over cuts, wounds or irritated skin.
• Don’t apply to eyes or mouth and apply sparingly around the ears.  When using sprays, do not spray directly onto face; spray on hands first and then apply to face.
• Do not allow children to handle these types of products. Many are flammable or are chemical irritants to mucous membranes, and children may inadvertently spray them in their own faces or jokingly spray their playmates.
• Do not apply to children’s hands. When using on children, apply to your own hands and then put it on the child.
• Do not spray in enclosed areas.  Avoid breathing a repellent spray, and do not use it near food or drinks.
• Use just enough repellent to cover expose skin and/or clothing.  Heavy application and saturation is unnecessary for effectiveness; if biting insects do not respond to a thin film of repellent, apply a bit more.
• Set up a perimeter with citronella candles. This will hopefully prevent infestation, and the candles now come in festive tiki-torch form.

After returning indoors, wash treated skin with soap and water or take a bath.   This is particularly important when repellants are used repeatedly in a day or on consecutive days.  Also, wash treated clothing before wearing it again.
If you suspect that you or your child are reacting to an insect repellent, discontinue use, wash treated skin and then call your local poison control center.  If/when you go to a doctor, take the repellent with you.
Reproduced from EPA #735-F-93-052R

When sending your children to summer camp, be sure to advise the director and camp counselors of any known allergic reactions your child has to insect or stinging bites.  Symptoms of an allergic reaction include the following:

• Hives, itching, and swelling in areas other than the sting site;
• Tightness in the chest and difficulty breathing;
• Hoarse voice or swelling of the tongue;
• Dizziness or a sharp drop in blood pressure;
• Disorientation and lethargy; and
• Unconsciousness or cardiac arrest.

If your child relies upon epinephrine to counteract the effects of an allergic reaction, be sure to provide the camp with a supply to keep handy “just in case.”  No matter what, provide the camp with a medical authorization form allowing them to have your child transported to a hospital in case of an emergency.

Water Sports Safety: They Aren’t Called Life Jackets Because They Don’t Save Lives.

The 2008 National Safe Kids Campaign reported their “Child Death Review Survey Results” that included data from 496 unintentional childhood drowning deaths submitted to the National SAFE KIDS Campaign. They represent 89% of all unintentional drowning deaths occurring in seventeen states from January 2000 to December 2001. Unintentional drownings made up 95% of all drowning deaths among children ages 14 and under, reviewed by these states.

Approximately 838 children ages 14 and under drowned in 2004; more than 60% of these children were under the age of four.  Also, approximately 15% of children admitted to hospitals for near-drowning die, while another 20% will suffer severe and permanent brain damage.  Residential swimming pool drownings account for around 300 incidents per year.  Interestingly, according to the ThinkFirst National Injury Prevention Foundation, more fatal drownings occur in the South and West.  23% of reviewed deaths were among children ages 5 to 9, and 17% among children ages 10 to 14.

Shockingly, 88% of children were under some form of supervision when they drowned. 46% of drowning victims in the reviewed deaths were in the care of a parent at the time of the incident. 26% were in the care of a relative other than a parent, including 5% in the care of a sibling younger than 18 years of age and 6% in the care of a grandparent.   Therefore, to say water safety is important for the health of your child is a gross understatement. If your child is an inexperienced swimmer, ensure that he or she won’t be allowed to participate in swimming or water sports without accredited life guards and other vigilant, responsible adults in the near vicinity.

In their April 2004 report, the National Safe Kids Coalition concluded that several contributing factors result in childhood drownings, including:

1. Parents are overconfident about their children’s safety and abilities around water.  Although drowning is the second leading cause of injury-related deaths for children ages 1 to 14, more than half (55 %) of parents say that they do not worry much or at all about their child drowning.Childhood drownings can happen in a matter of seconds.  They typically occur when a child is left unattended or during a brief lapse of time.  Although swimming lessons help reduce the risk of drowning, there is no substitute for adequate and active supervision.  Practice good parental investigative techniques to ensure that, whether your child is with you at the pool or ocean, or enjoying water activities in summer camp, there is an ample number of qualified adults or lifeguards present to ensure swimming safety.
2. Drownings most commonly occur in recreational settings, often pools and open bodies of water.  In fact, national data suggests that more than 385 children ages 14 and under drown each year while participating in water recreation, such as swimming or boating.  Nearly half of these recreational downing deaths (49%) are among children ages 5 to 14.When engaged in recreational water sports, ALWAYS have your child wear a life jacket approved by the U.S. Coast Guard while on a boat or around open bodies of water.  For a proper fit, the life jacket should fit snugly and not allow the child’s chin or ears to slip through the neck opening.  Just as important, teach your children to be extra cautious when swimming in open water due to unknown conditions such as uneven surfaces, current, ocean undertow and sharks.
3. Caregivers need to enforce the consistent use of personal floatation devices (PFDs) in potentially hazardous situations.  Many “tweens” admit that they never wear a PFD when riding a personal watercraft (50%), participating in water sports (37%) or on a boat (16%).  While kids may think that wearing life jackets makes them look “unhip,” safety is the primary concern.  While parents recognize the importance of PFD use, they do not always require their children to wear PFDs or model safe behavior for their children.  Be sure to talk to caregivers about this too.  Grandparents, nannies, babysitters and camp counselors should also be prepared to model jacket wearing.Do not rely on colorful inflatable devices to keep your child safe.  “Water wings” and “noodles,” although the toys of choice for most small children, are not meant to keep swimmers safe.  They should also not serve as a substitute for life jackets, which are appropriate personal floation devices.
4. More children should be enrolled in swimming lessons taught by a certified swimming instructor.  Although the majority of parents (82%) agree that all children should take swimming lessons by age 8, 37% of parents of children ages 5 to 14 report that their child has never taken swimming lessons.Enroll your child in age-appropriate Red Cross water orientation and swimming courses.  Contact your local Red Cross chapter to find out which aquatic facilities in your area offer Red Cross courses.  You can locate your local chapter by visiting their website at www.redcross.org.  The American Academy of Pediatrics does not recommend swimming classes as a primary means of drowning prevention for children under four years of age.  However, for school age children, swimming lessons are a significant contributing factor in water safety.

Kevin R. Dean and Anne Kearse are attorneys with the Charleston, South Carolina, office of Motley Rice, LLC.