Kitchen burn and scald prevention tips

In 2012, more than 136,000 children across the country, including more than 67,000 children 4 and under, were injured due to a fire or burn and treated in emergency rooms. 

FACTS:

-    Cooking equipment is the leading cause of home fire injuries. Unattended cooking accounted for 2 out of every 5 house fires. 
-    Households with electric ranges have a higher risk of fires.
-    Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve are the peak days for cooking fires.
-    83% of frying fires began within the first 15 minutes.

Top Safety Tips:

 - Don't carry or hold a child while cooking on the stove. Instead, move a high chair in the kitchen or sight before you start. 
 - To prevent accidental scalding, set your water heater to 120 degrees Fahrenheit or the manufacturer's recommended setting. 
 - Make a habit of placing matches, gasoline and lighters in a safe place, like in a locked cabinet above an adults shoulder. Avoid novelty lighters or lighters that look like toys. 
 - Install working smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors in your home. Test them monthly. 
 - Make a 3 foot (36 inches) NO zone around any heating source (oven, space heater, furnace, fireplace, etc)

Back Burner and Oven Mitts:

 - Toddlers have a 24" reach span to the back of counter tops. Kids love to reach, so to prevent hot food or liquid spills, simply use the back burner of your stove and turn pot handles away from the edge. Keep hot foods away from the edge of your counters. This includes cords from appliances also. 
 - Use oven mitts or potholders and keep hot foods and liquids away from table and counter edges. Be careful if your oven mitt is wet; when combined with heat, the moisture can cause scalds. 
 - Slowly open containers that have been in the microwave, as steam can burn little fingers and faces.

Engage Older Kids in Cooking:

 - Teach older responsible kids how to cook safely. It will make your life easier if your kids can cook some of their own meals (and maybe yours, too). Teach them never to leave the kitchen while they are using the stove. Don't forget that the number one cause of home fires is unattended cooking. 
 - Don't allow children to use a microwave by themselves until they are both tall enough to reach it safely and able to understand that steam can cause burns. 
 - Instruct older kids to use oven mitts or potholders to remove items from the oven or stove and teach them how to use a microwave safely.

Be Careful With the Microwave:

 - Microwaves can heat unevenly and create hot spots, so avoid using them to heat baby formula or baby milk. 
 - Heat bottles by placing them in warm water, and make sure they have cooled to the appropriate temperature before feeding your baby.

For more safety tips, please go to www.childrensdmc.org/KIPP