Lighters: a danger within reach of too many children
They are in many houses, to light the kitchen, the fireplace, to smoke ... The lighters, matches and other lighters provoke around 1,900 injuries Y 40 deaths per year in the European Union. The figure reaches 340 minors between 5 and 14 years. The Spanish Association of Pediatrics, AEP, alerts parents to be attentive.
The danger of lighters
The AEP alerts that after two years a child is already able to manipulate a lighter. Most of those affected by these accidents tend to be between 3 and 4 years old, age in which, according to this organism, the curiosity of the children leads them to want to experiment with fire.
However, sometimes these experiments end up making turn on some furniture or garment. Fire becomes especially dangerous because the child's reaction is flight, with which the flames spread. It makes it easier for them to die asphyxiated or for this small focus of fire to end up becoming a fire.
To prevent these cases from occurring, several agencies request that the governments of the European Union make sure that the lighters put up for sale within their territories, have a security device. In addition, pediatricians remind parents to spend as much time as necessary talking to their children to explain that these objects are not toys. Of course, adults should never use these gadgets to play.
Safety recommendations
Since the lighters are a necessary object In some homes, the AEP recalls some notions of security that will prevent children from suffering a mishap related to these objects:
- That he wrapping of the product indicate that the lighter has a safety mechanism.
- It is not enough that you have a security mechanism, you also have to prevent children use the lighters.
- Always keep the lighters Out of range of children and prevent them from seeing where we hide them.
- Never give the impression that a lighter it can be fun. It is a tool used by adults in some circumstances and is not a toy.
- Install smoke detectors that indicate the presence of a fire source.
Damián Montero
