Preventing Electrical Accidents
What can you do to prevent electrical accidents?
Electrical accidents do happen and curious children are always at risk through touching plug sockets, biting on electrical cords etc. Here are some precautions you can take to prevent an accident:
Cover all electrical outlets with plug socket guards. They are cheap and easily obtainable.
Place lamps and appliance cords out of the child's reach, perhaps behind heavy furniture.
Where an appliance has a plug that pushed into the rear of it - such as with portable stereos etc, make sure that the child cannot pull the plug out. If they do and put it into their mouth it could be very serious.
Always check appliances and cables for damage.
If you're not qualified then don't mess with electricity. It is not visible so you don't know if it's there without special equipment. If in doubt, call for a qualified electrician.
If you suspect that your child has had a shock then check for burns, a blackened mark or blisters at the point of contact or the point of exit. If the shock is more serious, say from biting through an electrical cable, your child may be knocked unconscious and maybe even their heart has stopped beating. If this is the case then you should immediately turn off the power, call for an ambulance and administer CPR (Cardiopulmonary resuscitation).
