Celebrations for ‘Safe Home for Me’

www.safehome4me.com celebrates it second birthday this week with over 100,000 hits by users logging online to help prevent accidents in the home.

The website has been designed for pre-school and primary school settings but can also be used at home to raise awareness of accident prevention. Through a series of interactive games and ‘watch and learn’ sequences, the website introduces children to behavioural, product and environmental risk factors that can lead to common home accidents.

Accident prevention topics covered in www.safehome4me.com include; bouncing (trampoline) accidents; burns and scalds; falling and crashing; poisoning; ear, nose and mouth accidents and; contacting the emergency services.

Launched in March 2008, the online accident prevention resource, is funded by the Public Health Agency (PHA) through the Southern Area Accident Prevention Liaison Group (SAAPLG) and managed by the Promoting Wellbeing Team at the Southern Health and Social Care Trust (SHSCT).

Delighted that the website has reached 100,000 hits on its second anniversary, Nina Daly, Accident Prevention Officer with the SHCST said: “I am pleased the resource continues to be popular with young children both at home and in the school setting. The resource helps children to develop attitudes around keeping themselves and others safe and show them what to do if an accident happens. The scenarios and games on the website work best if explained and discussed with an adult initially, but once children are familiar with the site, they can continue to use it alone.”
Cathy Mullan from the Public Health Agency and Chair of SAAPLG added: “Over the past two years 1,096 children aged 0-4 attended A&E departments or were admitted to a hospital across Northern Ireland due to a home accident, 242 (22%) of these in the Southern area alone. It is hoped that this excellent resource will continue to reduce these statistics and lessen pressures on health and social care staff caused by accidents in and around the home.”

The teachers’ pack which accompanies the website covers a range of safety topics, encourages discussion and provides further activities for children. Copies of the pack have been sent to every nursery and primary school across the Southern area. Distribution is currently being extended to include Early Years organisations across the Southern area.