Summer means time to review lawn mower safety with kids
Posted on Monday, June 5, 2006
LITTLE ROCK – Though summer is just dawning, Arkansas Children’s Hospital has already treated more patients with lawnmower injuries this year than it did during all of 2005. This means that as grass continues to grow through the warm months and school lets out, parents need to be on guard. "If a trend like this starts early, it usually continues through the summer," said Donna Parnell-Beasley, trauma coordinator for Arkansas Children’s Hospital. "Always know where your children are when you’re mowing."
Already, the hospital has treated six patients who were seriously injured in accidents involving lawnmowers. Parnell-Beasley points out that lawnmower injuries are usually penetrating and in many scenarios, amputation or partial amputation occurs. "Some children even require subsequent hospitalizations for skin grafts and wound care," she said. "The injuries we see are typically to the hands or feet. These are devastating and disfiguring injuries."
Windy Favre of Conway knows from experience how traumatic lawnmower injuries can be to children and their families. Her 5-year-old son Michael lost a third of each of his feet in late March after a family member, unaware that the child was standing near, backed over him with a lawnmower. Michael also fractured his hand in multiple places, suffered several deep cuts and had his leg skinned. "You always hear how fast your kids move, but I don’t think it registers," Windy Favre said. "We now know."
Michael is now at home and adapting to a wheelchair. As he grows older, he will have the option of using inserts to fill out his shoes because his feet won’t be able to on their own.
Dale Blasier, M. D., vice chief of orthopedics at Arkansas Children’s Hospital and professor of Orthopedic Surgery at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine, believes Michael will regain strength in his right foot. But many of the muscles in his left foot are destroyed.
Blasier says this is fairly typical of the types of injuries associated with lawnmower accidents. "They’re generally ragged and filled with dirt and pieces of grass," Blasier said. "They’re at high risk for infections. They need to be on antibiotics for a long time. We don’t see these patients once. We see them over and over and over again to get them healed up."
For now, Michael seems to be more concerned with seeing friends he missed at school and letting his injuries heal so he can go swimming again. "He’s very much the same Michael he was before," Windy Favre said. "He’s a spunky little fellow."
She echoes some of the same tips that Parnell-Beasley advocates for avoiding lawnmower accidents during the summer months. "Just keep your kids inside when the lawnmower is going," Windy Favre said. "My kids won’t be outside if anyone is mowing or using farm equipment near us ever again."
Parents should also remember that riding lawnmowers are for adults and are not passenger vehicles. Children should not be allowed to sit on parents’ laps as they mow.
Adolescents and teenagers who operate push-lawnmowers should wear long pants, protective boots and goggles because the machines can toss objects towards their faces. Those younger than 12 should not be allowed to operate push mowers. "It is a vehicle, and it does require some critical thinking skills to maneuver," Parnell-Beasley said.
As school lets out, parents should be aware when their neighbors are mowing. They should also talk to their children about staying away from lawnmowers and talk to them about safety. "It’s still early summer," Parnell-Beasley said. "When kids are out of school, there is a great opportunity to look at a lot of different summer safety issues."
Arkansas Children’s Hospital is the only pediatric medical center in Arkansas and one of the largest in the United States serving children from birth to age 21. The campus spans 24 city blocks and houses 290 beds, a staff of approximately 500 physicians, 80 residents in pediatrics and pediatric specialties and more than 3,600 employees. The private, nonprofit healthcare facility boasts an internationally renowned reputation for medical breakthroughs and intensive treatments, unique surgical procedures and forward-thinking medical research — all dedicated to fulfilling our mission of enhancing, sustaining and restoring children’s health and development. Arkansas Children’s Hospital is the comprehensive clinical, research and teaching affiliate of the College of Medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. UAMS pediatric faculty physicians and surgeons are on staff at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. For more information, visit www. archildrens. org.
UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with five colleges, a graduate school, a medical center, five centers of excellence and a statewide network of regional centers. UAMS has about 2,320 students and 690 medical residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 9,300 employees, including nearly 1,000 physicians who provide medical care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital and the VA Medical Center. UAMS and its affiliates have an economic impact in Arkansas of $4.4 billion a year. For more information, visit uams. edu.
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