Maryland's Health Matters - Shore/Chester River - Summer 2013 - (Page 8)

Summer HealtH Safety Sunny days are here—are you prepared? S ummer is the season to be outdoors 24/7, if possible. Soak up the sun while it’s out, because you’ll miss it come winter! However, it’s vital to keep safety top of mind when enjoying outdoor activities. Jane Wang, MD, medical director at the University of Maryland Shore Emergency Center at Queenstown, is not only an emergency medicine doctor, she’s also an avid kayaker who knows the importance of being prepared before heading out onto the water. “Drowning is the third-leading cause of accidental death in the U.S.,” says Dr. Wang. Drowning is the leading cause of death for children between the ages of 1 and 4. “A common place for this to happen is in family pools,” Dr. Wang says, especially when kids are unsupervised. For teens and young adults, drowning is more likely to be caused by risk-taking behaviors, such as swimming out too far into an unfamiliar body of water, or combining water activities with drugs or alcohol. Dr. Wang’s advice is simple: Know how to swim and learn CPR. 8 Maryland’s HealtH Matters Kids and Water The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that formal swimming lessons start after age 4, says Dr. Wang, because most children younger than that don’t have the developmental skills to follow the instructions in the pool. However, parent-child exercises in the pool starting at a younger age can help kids become comfortable in the water, says Dr. Wang, and prepare them for swimming lessons. An adult should always be close when children are near water. For teens and young adults, always swim with a friend and avoid combining swimming with drugs or alcohol. Make sure to sign up yourself—and your whole family—for a community-offered CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) class before summer arrives. “Every physically capable person should learn basic CPR and first aid skills,” says Dr. Wang. “CPR started within the first six minutes of a person’s heart stopping can keep the person alive until medical help gets there.” Want to email this article to a friend?

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Maryland's Health Matters - Shore/Chester River - Summer 2013

Maryland's Health Matters - Shore/Chester River - Summer 2013
Contents
A Healthy Start
Change for the Better
Summer Health Safety
'We Give Parents Hope’
At a Glance
Introducing ...
News and Events

Maryland's Health Matters - Shore/Chester River - Summer 2013