Our Brenner Children’s Child Injury Prevention Coordinator, Luly Beckles, returns to the BestHealth podcast; this time we chat about the importance of car seat safety for kids of all ages.
Learn more about Safe Kids Northwest Piedmont.
Car Seat Safety
Speaker 1: 00:00 This is the best health podcast brought to you by wake forest baptist health in partnership with MedCost. Good day
Speaker 2: 00:10 everyone. Welcome to the latest best health podcast. So it's summertime and um, the kids are out of school for the summer and, um, lots of, lots of play dates going on and lots of, uh, family get togethers and vacations and, um, we're having fun outside a lot. So we thought what better person to bring in to the best health podcast then Luly Beckles, she's our pediatric injury prevention coordinator and safe kids coordinator with [inaudible]
Speaker 3: 00:47 children's hospital. So welcome. Luly how are you? Hi Justin. Thank you for the invitation.
Speaker 2: 00:52 Oh, thanks for, uh, thanks for being with us today. We really appreciate it. So we're going to get into lots of really good information about summer safety for the Kiddos and for the family and, um, how to just be mindful and be aware to help prevent some preventable injuries. Uh, but before we get into that, I guess just tell us a little bit about yourself. Luly. How long have you been with wake forest Baptist and, and, um, how long have you been involved with, with pediatric injury prevention?
Speaker 3: 01:18 So I've been an employee almost for four years since July, 2015 was a volunteer for nine years prior to that and have been doing, do you know, advocating for, um, child safety and, um, injury prevention throughout my professional career, but definitely since 2006 with, um, the annual bike safety day. Okay. So, well, um,
Speaker 2: 01:43 ah, that's, that's great. So, um, I guess we'll jump right into it. Um, since you mentioned annual bike safety day. So one of my boy's favorite thing to do is ride their bikes and, um, I don't know if it's like this with girls, but with boys they try and try and do things they haven't done before on their bikes. So like, what's the newest trick I've never done? Or, Hey, can I jump this? Can I go this high? Um, so, you know, they like to be, uh, adventurous and try new things. Um, so I guess, uh, that's one of the things that kids are doing a lot this summer. It's like talk a little bit about what we do for um, bike safety and bike injury prevention. Yeah,
Speaker 3: 02:22 I'm with safe kids and burner. Sheldon's still a three. Um, summer you should be in May or June. We hold an annual bike safety day with the, when some Salem Police Department, downtown bike patrol, um, east, you should get collegium downtown and our bike safety then we'll be on June 15th. And you know, we also hold bike safety events throughout the school year and during the summer. So a different summer camps. Uh, the different elementary schools in the region, usually fourth and fifth graders. And we talk to them about uh, the importance of wearing appropriately for the helmet. Understanding that through bicycle is their first vehicle. And like you were saying, children are, you know, impulsive, they are adventurous and they want to try new things. But we, with the partnership that we have, we work very hard with them to emphasize the importance of protecting their brains and wanting them to realize that their bicycle is actually their first vehicle and a helmet is required by law. But if you know, they get injury, if they have a concussion or they suffer, um, you know, a a worst injury, we can give them a brain back. So we are all about prevention and we provide every student or every child that comes to an event to one of our events, we have properly fit bike helmet.
Speaker 2: 03:47 So you guys provide free helmets to the kids at these events. Hats. Yes. That is such a cool service. Yes. That is really nice. And I don't want to, um, just quickly brush over the key phrase there, which is properly fitted properly cause my boys, they'll run out and they'll just want to run, throw their helmet on real quick and start in and take off down, down the road or down in riding the bike in the yard. Um, and I'm like, well wait a second, let's make sure that it's on correctly. So I guess let's not, let's not gloss over that and talk about the importance of it being properly fitted and how, how people can go about looking at house. A helmet can be properly fitted.
Speaker 3: 04:25 So what we tell children or we teach them is that when they put a helmet on, they have to look at three things. So they have to look at, you know, their eyes, their mouth and their ears. They should have two fingers between, you know, the helmet and in their head in between two to three fingers, they should have a v around each of their ears. So the strap should be tight enough that they will make a v as in victor around the ears. And then in this trap by the chain, they shouldn't have more than one inch. And I always tell them, open your mouth, why are, does it fit correctly? The helmet shouldn't be moving from site to site. It should be properly placed because many children put a helmet on, they don't strap it and then they go riding their bike and he flies out.
Speaker 3: 05:10 Sure. We also talk about the hand signals, the importance of knowing how to turn left, how to turn right, how to stop and the importance of realizing that vehicles and drivers are not looking for children on their bikes. So they should always make eye contact and look at the driver in the individual in, you know, signal in and make sure that they're being visible at all times. Also wear colorful clothing, reflective clothing so they can be visible. Um, they should have bud light is required also by law and we have a lot of resources on our grinders website about bike safety and we certainly can put a link on the helmet. Fit Tests. Yeah. So children and parents can have to it, we usually provide this in a magnet form so parents can put it in the refrigerator and that's something, you know, you don't get into a vehicle without putting your seatbelt on. Well, you don't get on a bike or a wheel toy or a scooter without putting a helmet on. And many, many children throughout the summer. I see so many children riding in different neighborhoods, hoods in the community without helmet somehow. Um, they don't think that they need a helmet because they don't have training wheels in and sometimes parents don't, don't enforce the importance of keeping, um, their children's heads safe. Basically a helmet can protect you from us suffering a concussion. Sure, sure. So,
Speaker 2: 06:38 well that's a great information really on Reiner bikes. And I, I wanna um, transition cause we can, there's so much great summer safety information to talk about with our children. Um, so one other very popular activity during the summer of course is getting in the water. Yes. Um, so, um, once again, my family loves, loves going to the pool, they love going, going to the beach, swimming in the ocean. Um, so, um, one thing that I maybe people don't necessarily think about a lot is, um, we swim in a pool probably here in Winston Salem families, kids swimming pools, more so than they swim in the ocean. Um, so maybe just touch on the difference between swimming in a pool at your local pool recreation center versus swimming out in open waters. And what parents need to think about as far as that difference goes. Yes.
Speaker 3: 07:33 So one of the things that we've noticed is, you know, children that have access to swim lessons, they learn how to swim in a swimming pool. The water is clear, they're wearing goggles. Um, and some of the things that we need to pay attention to is the water temperature. When you go to some of the lakes in the areas or rivers, I mean the water temperature is different. There is vegetation, um, around our lakes and rivers. Uh, there's degrees. Uh, there are different factors that can affect in, you know, what, um, you know, quieter safety just continues to be a number one priority. I mean, children between the ages of one and four, uh, that's the number one, um, cost of death. [inaudible] wow is surrounding. So, and we see it more than not the, um, city pools or the community pools where you have a lifeguard on duty.
Speaker 3: 08:26 Sure. But you surely add, um, neighborhood pools, someone's backyard, somebody's backyard. Um, you know, a pool at a, um, apartment complex in the number one thing that people need to pay attention to is be watchful. Children should be within arm's reach. Whether you are in the pool, whether you're in open water, you know, in the pool, you sort of know when, when you're going deeper and deeper in open water can be at one feet and swim a little bit and suddenly you're five feet, 10 feet, you know, 15 feet. Um, um, the, in the water. Uh, so one of the things that we've been promoting is, um, do you know those water watch your cards are really advocating for parents. If we're going to go with a group of parents together, let's take turns. Um, watching the kids putting our phones away, maybe not having so many conversations and totally being engaged in paying attention to the children in the water.
Speaker 2: 09:26 I'm so glad you mentioned that because we were at the pool a couple of weekends ago and so, um, there, it ran the gamut. There were families there and the parents were in the water with the kids. Um, but then there were parents there and they were on their phones. Yes, I'm out, you know, on the lounge chairs on the pool deck. And, um, I thought that was interesting just to see, you know, the different differences. And it's so easy now because everyone,
Speaker 3: 09:53 everybody's on their phones, everyone's on their phones, everyone is on their phones in, I mean, a child, just a drowning is silent in a child can run in a matter of seconds. So, uh, we always have, okay, be there with your children, teach them how to float in the water, enroll them or sign them up in, uh, first, uh, swim lessons that is so important. And again, remembering that swimming in open water is totally different from swimming in the pools. We also have families in the area that do swim and go to lakes in the area that are known swimming areas. And I hear a lot from our fire departments that have to respond to rescues in areas in our community, in our state that are not, even though there is, there's a body of water is not this native for public swimming. Sure. Um, and it just happens a lot.
Speaker 3: 10:48 So, you know, having rules around the water, if, if you're gonna go to somebodies backyard party in a pool, there should be somebody assigned to watch the children at all times and take turns. Somebody doesn't want to be watching all the kids for three hours. Right. But then it's reasonable to say every 30 minutes somebody's going to take turns. That's right. In many, many times it happens that everybody goes seen or there's so many people in a child use sleeping into the pool and nobody noticed. And again, drown any silence is not like how we see it in the movies. Sure. And, um, and unfortunately, uh, many times it's too late too. Sure. Um,
Speaker 2: 11:28 so, um, that's just, that's really good information. Luly um, and, and we, you touched on a point, and maybe I should have asked this question at the beginning as step one, but step one is be proactive and, um, and have your kids learn how to swim. Yes. So learning how to swim, uh, having them be able to swim is, is I'm going to give them a huge advantage, um, before they get into anybody yep.
Speaker 3: 11:55 Water into anybody of water. But when we're talking about younger children and toddlers and preschoolers and teaching them how to flow, so before they learn how to swim, we need to teach them how to float. Because if they fall in a body of water, they should be able how to turn their back [inaudible] and be able to do, you know, way in the water with their heads up in, in, in, in their back. Auntie Linda told can be with him. And again, um, summaries found. We all want to have fun. Uh, but we, you know, I, I've, I have children too, so they would tell you that I'm, I'm always watchful being just right next to them and, and teenagers, you know, as they get older, we think, you know, if, if you happen to go to the ocean with the current, everything, you know, we can read on the news what's happening, you know, the coast and how they late the last hurricane we had change, um, the current inner ocean.
Speaker 3: 12:51 So don't assume that because a teenager might know how to swim and they're older, that they're not going to be impulsive. They tend to be more risk takers and they tend to go deeper in the water, have rules set with the children, with the teens. Never swim alone, never going to a body of water without an adult supervising you. That is so important and in big watch full of those preteens and teenagers, they also need these water safety information. The rules, you know, establish the rules. You're gonna come out every 15 minutes, you're not going to go pass, um, you know, five feet of [inaudible].
Speaker 2: 13:29 Yeah, that's, I, that's a great point. I'm glad you brought that up about the older kids and the teenagers. Cause you know, people do think about, you know, the kid's been swimming for a few years and knows how to swim and he's a teenager now or she's a teenager now and um, but there still needs to be, um, some vigilance in place. Yeah, that's great.
Speaker 3: 13:47 In rough lane and, and, and running and pushing and chopping. And I mean, kids are going to be kids for sure. And Childhood is, is a sport, but there are ways to keep them safe and to still have fun. In the summer. Sure. Yeah.
Speaker 2: 13:58 Well I'm speaking of keeping them safe. Um, I have a prop, um, but the people listening to the podcast are listening. They can't see it. So, um, we have, uh, one of our Brenner children's hospitals life best. Yes. And a what in honor of Lulu being here and talking about summer safety. Um, I want to give a plug, we're going to give away a couple of life vests on our Brenner children's Facebook page. Um, so if you're listening to this, um, uh, go check out the Brenner Children's Facebook page and um, you'll see a post, um, to enter to win. Um, we're giving away a few, uh, LifeVest um, in honor of Lulu being here and it being summertime. So, um,
Speaker 3: 14:39 and that's something so important with, um, you know, you were talking about going out of town with your kids recently. I went up to the mountains and to do some, um, river tubing. Yes. And I was surprised to see so many children were not wearing a life vest that has been us guard approved. And I think I was one of the few adults that chose, even though it was going really to been that chose because I, I, I practice what I preach to wear a personal flotation device that has been us coast guard approved. So as you go into our area, lakes and rivers, remember to put those, I mean every child under 13 should have one, but I believe everybody that gets on a boat or is swimming in an open water should have one of these personal for devices. I think that's a great point.
Speaker 3: 15:27 And you know, that's, we were, um, my, my family loves kayaking. Um, so we are kind of liking recently and um, that's definitely, you know, before you get in the water going kayaking in and of that's, that's growing in popularity around here. Um, just make sure you have a personal flotation device. Yes. For summer travel. Make sure that your children, uh, car seat are properly installed, that you attend one of our monthly courtesy check events or going to our brand new website. And you can see a link of places where parents can go and get their car seats check in again. The preteens and teenagers sometimes they do forget to put their seatbelts on. Something happens to their brain. They've been incarcerated, they sort of feel older. Make sure that everyone in the vehicle is properly buckles on safe for summer travel. That is so important.
Speaker 3: 16:19 Glad you brought that up. So, um, that's yeah, there's so many trips going on during the summer. Um, talk to us a little bit about that. And like Lily said, I'll, I'll give a plug here. If you go to Brenner children's dot org, um, you can see the calendar of events and see the monthly car seat checks that um, that safe kids in Luly coordinates with Brenner Children's hospital. Um, so talk to us a little bit about, um, the car seat checks and how important it is and how often that you come across. Um, car seats that aren't properly installed or kids that aren't properly fitted for, for car seats every single day, every day, every day. We have a child in our pediatric emergency department that a child or a couple of children that were involved in a motor vehicle crash. Um, so car seats need to be replaced when that happens.
Speaker 3: 17:06 But 80 to 90% of car seats are not properly fitted. 80 to 90% of car seats according to the research. Wow. Um, car seats, manufacturing companies and automobile companies have not necessarily talking to each other all the time. And it is one of the most complicated things is my, I mean, it's engineering of a vehicle in engineering of a car seat. So I always encourage parents to get your car seat checked by a certified child, passenger safety technician. So once a month child, passenger safety technicians from the area, they might be from the Winston Salem Police Department when some Salem Fire Department, the health departments in our region. David for side stoves. Yep. King County, um, health educators and our nurses. We come that our child, passenger safety techs, we come together and we hold car seat check events. So what we see is a trend of new parents that are having their first babies are coming to our events, but we see so many preschoolers and children who are five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10 that are injured and many of them still need it to be in a car seat or a booster seat.
Speaker 3: 18:18 And they were not sure. And we see a tremendous increase in the summer. We see families traveling across North Carolina, you know, from the north, northeast to the south, maybe going to Florida, traveling across our state. Sure. In they sustain an injury in the area. Sure. And they ended up in our hospital and in those change. But I always have, okay parents, please check your car seats if you show up at a fire department. They called the, um, assumption is that every fire department checks car seats. And that's not the case. Right. However, because he takes special training to be able to these however they fire departments are wonderful at reaching out to me and saying, Hey Lee, we have this grandmother or this mom that showed up at our fire station, can you please assist them? And we're always willing to help them to keep children safe.
Speaker 2: 19:07 That's, that's such a great part of what, what y'all do with, um, the Brenner pediatric injury prevention and safe kids. Um, so we just have a minute left. And you mentioned kids coming to Brenner, um, involved in motor vehicle accidents or being injured one way or the other. So I do want to take a minute and talk about, um, Brenner Children's hospital and, um, that Brenner children's is a pediatric trauma center and it's a level one trauma center. So talk to us just briefly about what that actually means. Lou Lee and how we care for our youngest patients.
Speaker 3: 19:43 So trauma centers are, um, classifying level one, two, and three, one being the highest. We, there's adult trauma centers and there's trauma centers that also care for children, but it's a big deal to be a level one pediatric trauma center. That means that we have the surgeons, the pediatric surgeons, the emergency medicine doctors in pediatric, the nursing staff, highly trained to care for children that are injured. We became the first level one pediatric trauma center in the state. We actually happen to be leaders in this field. So that means if a child is injured within our region, uh, if you think about the western part of the state or even parts of Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, because we're also a porn center for the region, children are going to be brought to our hospitals. So every single day children are being, um, transferred from area hospitals as far as Greensboro, um, he curry to receive the best level of care we eat in the trauma world. We talked about that golden hour, that first hour when a child sustains an injury is crucial in that child's survival. So to know that we have doctors and nurses available 24, seven right to care for in your children. And unfortunately summer happens to be our busiest month. Yeah. As a trauma center. I'm certainly busy doing outreach, but the trauma surgeons that I work with in our pediatric trauma team were very busy, caring for injured patients. Sure.
Speaker 2: 21:23 Well I'm literally, we appreciate your efforts and, and the support of burner children's to help prevent these injuries. Um, cause I know the staff at Brenner Children's would love to be bored and not have a lot of patients over there. Um, so thank you for the outreach that you do and um, the injury prevention education you do. Um, once again, you can find out more information about um, injury prevention and summer safety tips on Brenner Children's dot org and you can also check out, um, the, the carseat checks and other outreach events, um, that we facilitate on the events calendar on there as well. Um, that information is also on the events calendar and the main wake health.edu website. Um, so lily, thank you so much for being here. Uh, I hope, I know your summer is going to be busy, uh, with events, but, uh, hope you have a great summer and we'll talk with you soon. Okay.
Speaker 1: 22:14 Thank you so much. Thanks for listening to this episode of the best health podcast brought to you by wake forest baptist health. For more wellness info, check out wake health.edu and follow us on social media, wake forest baptist health, the gold standard of healthcare.
Speaker 2: 00:10 everyone. Welcome to the latest best health podcast. So it's summertime and um, the kids are out of school for the summer and, um, lots of, lots of play dates going on and lots of, uh, family get togethers and vacations and, um, we're having fun outside a lot. So we thought what better person to bring in to the best health podcast then Luly Beckles, she's our pediatric injury prevention coordinator and safe kids coordinator with [inaudible]
Speaker 3: 00:47 children's hospital. So welcome. Luly how are you? Hi Justin. Thank you for the invitation.
Speaker 2: 00:52 Oh, thanks for, uh, thanks for being with us today. We really appreciate it. So we're going to get into lots of really good information about summer safety for the Kiddos and for the family and, um, how to just be mindful and be aware to help prevent some preventable injuries. Uh, but before we get into that, I guess just tell us a little bit about yourself. Luly. How long have you been with wake forest Baptist and, and, um, how long have you been involved with, with pediatric injury prevention?
Speaker 3: 01:18 So I've been an employee almost for four years since July, 2015 was a volunteer for nine years prior to that and have been doing, do you know, advocating for, um, child safety and, um, injury prevention throughout my professional career, but definitely since 2006 with, um, the annual bike safety day. Okay. So, well, um,
Speaker 2: 01:43 ah, that's, that's great. So, um, I guess we'll jump right into it. Um, since you mentioned annual bike safety day. So one of my boy's favorite thing to do is ride their bikes and, um, I don't know if it's like this with girls, but with boys they try and try and do things they haven't done before on their bikes. So like, what's the newest trick I've never done? Or, Hey, can I jump this? Can I go this high? Um, so, you know, they like to be, uh, adventurous and try new things. Um, so I guess, uh, that's one of the things that kids are doing a lot this summer. It's like talk a little bit about what we do for um, bike safety and bike injury prevention. Yeah,
Speaker 3: 02:22 I'm with safe kids and burner. Sheldon's still a three. Um, summer you should be in May or June. We hold an annual bike safety day with the, when some Salem Police Department, downtown bike patrol, um, east, you should get collegium downtown and our bike safety then we'll be on June 15th. And you know, we also hold bike safety events throughout the school year and during the summer. So a different summer camps. Uh, the different elementary schools in the region, usually fourth and fifth graders. And we talk to them about uh, the importance of wearing appropriately for the helmet. Understanding that through bicycle is their first vehicle. And like you were saying, children are, you know, impulsive, they are adventurous and they want to try new things. But we, with the partnership that we have, we work very hard with them to emphasize the importance of protecting their brains and wanting them to realize that their bicycle is actually their first vehicle and a helmet is required by law. But if you know, they get injury, if they have a concussion or they suffer, um, you know, a a worst injury, we can give them a brain back. So we are all about prevention and we provide every student or every child that comes to an event to one of our events, we have properly fit bike helmet.
Speaker 2: 03:47 So you guys provide free helmets to the kids at these events. Hats. Yes. That is such a cool service. Yes. That is really nice. And I don't want to, um, just quickly brush over the key phrase there, which is properly fitted properly cause my boys, they'll run out and they'll just want to run, throw their helmet on real quick and start in and take off down, down the road or down in riding the bike in the yard. Um, and I'm like, well wait a second, let's make sure that it's on correctly. So I guess let's not, let's not gloss over that and talk about the importance of it being properly fitted and how, how people can go about looking at house. A helmet can be properly fitted.
Speaker 3: 04:25 So what we tell children or we teach them is that when they put a helmet on, they have to look at three things. So they have to look at, you know, their eyes, their mouth and their ears. They should have two fingers between, you know, the helmet and in their head in between two to three fingers, they should have a v around each of their ears. So the strap should be tight enough that they will make a v as in victor around the ears. And then in this trap by the chain, they shouldn't have more than one inch. And I always tell them, open your mouth, why are, does it fit correctly? The helmet shouldn't be moving from site to site. It should be properly placed because many children put a helmet on, they don't strap it and then they go riding their bike and he flies out.
Speaker 3: 05:10 Sure. We also talk about the hand signals, the importance of knowing how to turn left, how to turn right, how to stop and the importance of realizing that vehicles and drivers are not looking for children on their bikes. So they should always make eye contact and look at the driver in the individual in, you know, signal in and make sure that they're being visible at all times. Also wear colorful clothing, reflective clothing so they can be visible. Um, they should have bud light is required also by law and we have a lot of resources on our grinders website about bike safety and we certainly can put a link on the helmet. Fit Tests. Yeah. So children and parents can have to it, we usually provide this in a magnet form so parents can put it in the refrigerator and that's something, you know, you don't get into a vehicle without putting your seatbelt on. Well, you don't get on a bike or a wheel toy or a scooter without putting a helmet on. And many, many children throughout the summer. I see so many children riding in different neighborhoods, hoods in the community without helmet somehow. Um, they don't think that they need a helmet because they don't have training wheels in and sometimes parents don't, don't enforce the importance of keeping, um, their children's heads safe. Basically a helmet can protect you from us suffering a concussion. Sure, sure. So,
Speaker 2: 06:38 well that's a great information really on Reiner bikes. And I, I wanna um, transition cause we can, there's so much great summer safety information to talk about with our children. Um, so one other very popular activity during the summer of course is getting in the water. Yes. Um, so, um, once again, my family loves, loves going to the pool, they love going, going to the beach, swimming in the ocean. Um, so, um, one thing that I maybe people don't necessarily think about a lot is, um, we swim in a pool probably here in Winston Salem families, kids swimming pools, more so than they swim in the ocean. Um, so maybe just touch on the difference between swimming in a pool at your local pool recreation center versus swimming out in open waters. And what parents need to think about as far as that difference goes. Yes.
Speaker 3: 07:33 So one of the things that we've noticed is, you know, children that have access to swim lessons, they learn how to swim in a swimming pool. The water is clear, they're wearing goggles. Um, and some of the things that we need to pay attention to is the water temperature. When you go to some of the lakes in the areas or rivers, I mean the water temperature is different. There is vegetation, um, around our lakes and rivers. Uh, there's degrees. Uh, there are different factors that can affect in, you know, what, um, you know, quieter safety just continues to be a number one priority. I mean, children between the ages of one and four, uh, that's the number one, um, cost of death. [inaudible] wow is surrounding. So, and we see it more than not the, um, city pools or the community pools where you have a lifeguard on duty.
Speaker 3: 08:26 Sure. But you surely add, um, neighborhood pools, someone's backyard, somebody's backyard. Um, you know, a pool at a, um, apartment complex in the number one thing that people need to pay attention to is be watchful. Children should be within arm's reach. Whether you are in the pool, whether you're in open water, you know, in the pool, you sort of know when, when you're going deeper and deeper in open water can be at one feet and swim a little bit and suddenly you're five feet, 10 feet, you know, 15 feet. Um, um, the, in the water. Uh, so one of the things that we've been promoting is, um, do you know those water watch your cards are really advocating for parents. If we're going to go with a group of parents together, let's take turns. Um, watching the kids putting our phones away, maybe not having so many conversations and totally being engaged in paying attention to the children in the water.
Speaker 2: 09:26 I'm so glad you mentioned that because we were at the pool a couple of weekends ago and so, um, there, it ran the gamut. There were families there and the parents were in the water with the kids. Um, but then there were parents there and they were on their phones. Yes, I'm out, you know, on the lounge chairs on the pool deck. And, um, I thought that was interesting just to see, you know, the different differences. And it's so easy now because everyone,
Speaker 3: 09:53 everybody's on their phones, everyone's on their phones, everyone is on their phones in, I mean, a child, just a drowning is silent in a child can run in a matter of seconds. So, uh, we always have, okay, be there with your children, teach them how to float in the water, enroll them or sign them up in, uh, first, uh, swim lessons that is so important. And again, remembering that swimming in open water is totally different from swimming in the pools. We also have families in the area that do swim and go to lakes in the area that are known swimming areas. And I hear a lot from our fire departments that have to respond to rescues in areas in our community, in our state that are not, even though there is, there's a body of water is not this native for public swimming. Sure. Um, and it just happens a lot.
Speaker 3: 10:48 So, you know, having rules around the water, if, if you're gonna go to somebodies backyard party in a pool, there should be somebody assigned to watch the children at all times and take turns. Somebody doesn't want to be watching all the kids for three hours. Right. But then it's reasonable to say every 30 minutes somebody's going to take turns. That's right. In many, many times it happens that everybody goes seen or there's so many people in a child use sleeping into the pool and nobody noticed. And again, drown any silence is not like how we see it in the movies. Sure. And, um, and unfortunately, uh, many times it's too late too. Sure. Um,
Speaker 2: 11:28 so, um, that's just, that's really good information. Luly um, and, and we, you touched on a point, and maybe I should have asked this question at the beginning as step one, but step one is be proactive and, um, and have your kids learn how to swim. Yes. So learning how to swim, uh, having them be able to swim is, is I'm going to give them a huge advantage, um, before they get into anybody yep.
Speaker 3: 11:55 Water into anybody of water. But when we're talking about younger children and toddlers and preschoolers and teaching them how to flow, so before they learn how to swim, we need to teach them how to float. Because if they fall in a body of water, they should be able how to turn their back [inaudible] and be able to do, you know, way in the water with their heads up in, in, in, in their back. Auntie Linda told can be with him. And again, um, summaries found. We all want to have fun. Uh, but we, you know, I, I've, I have children too, so they would tell you that I'm, I'm always watchful being just right next to them and, and teenagers, you know, as they get older, we think, you know, if, if you happen to go to the ocean with the current, everything, you know, we can read on the news what's happening, you know, the coast and how they late the last hurricane we had change, um, the current inner ocean.
Speaker 3: 12:51 So don't assume that because a teenager might know how to swim and they're older, that they're not going to be impulsive. They tend to be more risk takers and they tend to go deeper in the water, have rules set with the children, with the teens. Never swim alone, never going to a body of water without an adult supervising you. That is so important and in big watch full of those preteens and teenagers, they also need these water safety information. The rules, you know, establish the rules. You're gonna come out every 15 minutes, you're not going to go pass, um, you know, five feet of [inaudible].
Speaker 2: 13:29 Yeah, that's, I, that's a great point. I'm glad you brought that up about the older kids and the teenagers. Cause you know, people do think about, you know, the kid's been swimming for a few years and knows how to swim and he's a teenager now or she's a teenager now and um, but there still needs to be, um, some vigilance in place. Yeah, that's great.
Speaker 3: 13:47 In rough lane and, and, and running and pushing and chopping. And I mean, kids are going to be kids for sure. And Childhood is, is a sport, but there are ways to keep them safe and to still have fun. In the summer. Sure. Yeah.
Speaker 2: 13:58 Well I'm speaking of keeping them safe. Um, I have a prop, um, but the people listening to the podcast are listening. They can't see it. So, um, we have, uh, one of our Brenner children's hospitals life best. Yes. And a what in honor of Lulu being here and talking about summer safety. Um, I want to give a plug, we're going to give away a couple of life vests on our Brenner children's Facebook page. Um, so if you're listening to this, um, uh, go check out the Brenner Children's Facebook page and um, you'll see a post, um, to enter to win. Um, we're giving away a few, uh, LifeVest um, in honor of Lulu being here and it being summertime. So, um,
Speaker 3: 14:39 and that's something so important with, um, you know, you were talking about going out of town with your kids recently. I went up to the mountains and to do some, um, river tubing. Yes. And I was surprised to see so many children were not wearing a life vest that has been us guard approved. And I think I was one of the few adults that chose, even though it was going really to been that chose because I, I, I practice what I preach to wear a personal flotation device that has been us coast guard approved. So as you go into our area, lakes and rivers, remember to put those, I mean every child under 13 should have one, but I believe everybody that gets on a boat or is swimming in an open water should have one of these personal for devices. I think that's a great point.
Speaker 3: 15:27 And you know, that's, we were, um, my, my family loves kayaking. Um, so we are kind of liking recently and um, that's definitely, you know, before you get in the water going kayaking in and of that's, that's growing in popularity around here. Um, just make sure you have a personal flotation device. Yes. For summer travel. Make sure that your children, uh, car seat are properly installed, that you attend one of our monthly courtesy check events or going to our brand new website. And you can see a link of places where parents can go and get their car seats check in again. The preteens and teenagers sometimes they do forget to put their seatbelts on. Something happens to their brain. They've been incarcerated, they sort of feel older. Make sure that everyone in the vehicle is properly buckles on safe for summer travel. That is so important.
Speaker 3: 16:19 Glad you brought that up. So, um, that's yeah, there's so many trips going on during the summer. Um, talk to us a little bit about that. And like Lily said, I'll, I'll give a plug here. If you go to Brenner children's dot org, um, you can see the calendar of events and see the monthly car seat checks that um, that safe kids in Luly coordinates with Brenner Children's hospital. Um, so talk to us a little bit about, um, the car seat checks and how important it is and how often that you come across. Um, car seats that aren't properly installed or kids that aren't properly fitted for, for car seats every single day, every day, every day. We have a child in our pediatric emergency department that a child or a couple of children that were involved in a motor vehicle crash. Um, so car seats need to be replaced when that happens.
Speaker 3: 17:06 But 80 to 90% of car seats are not properly fitted. 80 to 90% of car seats according to the research. Wow. Um, car seats, manufacturing companies and automobile companies have not necessarily talking to each other all the time. And it is one of the most complicated things is my, I mean, it's engineering of a vehicle in engineering of a car seat. So I always encourage parents to get your car seat checked by a certified child, passenger safety technician. So once a month child, passenger safety technicians from the area, they might be from the Winston Salem Police Department when some Salem Fire Department, the health departments in our region. David for side stoves. Yep. King County, um, health educators and our nurses. We come that our child, passenger safety techs, we come together and we hold car seat check events. So what we see is a trend of new parents that are having their first babies are coming to our events, but we see so many preschoolers and children who are five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10 that are injured and many of them still need it to be in a car seat or a booster seat.
Speaker 3: 18:18 And they were not sure. And we see a tremendous increase in the summer. We see families traveling across North Carolina, you know, from the north, northeast to the south, maybe going to Florida, traveling across our state. Sure. In they sustain an injury in the area. Sure. And they ended up in our hospital and in those change. But I always have, okay parents, please check your car seats if you show up at a fire department. They called the, um, assumption is that every fire department checks car seats. And that's not the case. Right. However, because he takes special training to be able to these however they fire departments are wonderful at reaching out to me and saying, Hey Lee, we have this grandmother or this mom that showed up at our fire station, can you please assist them? And we're always willing to help them to keep children safe.
Speaker 2: 19:07 That's, that's such a great part of what, what y'all do with, um, the Brenner pediatric injury prevention and safe kids. Um, so we just have a minute left. And you mentioned kids coming to Brenner, um, involved in motor vehicle accidents or being injured one way or the other. So I do want to take a minute and talk about, um, Brenner Children's hospital and, um, that Brenner children's is a pediatric trauma center and it's a level one trauma center. So talk to us just briefly about what that actually means. Lou Lee and how we care for our youngest patients.
Speaker 3: 19:43 So trauma centers are, um, classifying level one, two, and three, one being the highest. We, there's adult trauma centers and there's trauma centers that also care for children, but it's a big deal to be a level one pediatric trauma center. That means that we have the surgeons, the pediatric surgeons, the emergency medicine doctors in pediatric, the nursing staff, highly trained to care for children that are injured. We became the first level one pediatric trauma center in the state. We actually happen to be leaders in this field. So that means if a child is injured within our region, uh, if you think about the western part of the state or even parts of Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, because we're also a porn center for the region, children are going to be brought to our hospitals. So every single day children are being, um, transferred from area hospitals as far as Greensboro, um, he curry to receive the best level of care we eat in the trauma world. We talked about that golden hour, that first hour when a child sustains an injury is crucial in that child's survival. So to know that we have doctors and nurses available 24, seven right to care for in your children. And unfortunately summer happens to be our busiest month. Yeah. As a trauma center. I'm certainly busy doing outreach, but the trauma surgeons that I work with in our pediatric trauma team were very busy, caring for injured patients. Sure.
Speaker 2: 21:23 Well I'm literally, we appreciate your efforts and, and the support of burner children's to help prevent these injuries. Um, cause I know the staff at Brenner Children's would love to be bored and not have a lot of patients over there. Um, so thank you for the outreach that you do and um, the injury prevention education you do. Um, once again, you can find out more information about um, injury prevention and summer safety tips on Brenner Children's dot org and you can also check out, um, the, the carseat checks and other outreach events, um, that we facilitate on the events calendar on there as well. Um, that information is also on the events calendar and the main wake health.edu website. Um, so lily, thank you so much for being here. Uh, I hope, I know your summer is going to be busy, uh, with events, but, uh, hope you have a great summer and we'll talk with you soon. Okay.
Speaker 1: 22:14 Thank you so much. Thanks for listening to this episode of the best health podcast brought to you by wake forest baptist health. For more wellness info, check out wake health.edu and follow us on social media, wake forest baptist health, the gold standard of healthcare.