July 14th, 2009

Did you know that bath tub falls injure 43,000 children a year?

Reports WGAL-TV:

More than 43,000 children head to the emergency room each year after slipping or falling in a bath tub, according to researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

That works out to about 120 injuries in a shower or tub each day.

“Unfortunately, adult supervision isn’t enough to prevent these injuries, they happen so quickly that a parent simply can’t react quickly enough to prevent them,” said Dr. Gary Smith. “Therefore. it is important to prevent them from happening by using a slip resistant mat inside and outside the bath and shower.”

Smith suggested installing support bars so kids can hold onto them when getting in and out and said manufacturers should use more slip-resistant materials.

Researchers said most of the falls happen to kids under age 4, and often involve facial injuries.

“That is because young children … tend to topple forward, they have a high center of gravity, and they tend to strike their head and their face, and that ends up with injures such as lacerations,” he said.

The study appears in the August issue of the journal Pediatrics.