August is Children’s Eye Health and Safety Month
August is Children’s Eye Health & Safety Month. Prevent Blindness America uses the month to share information about preventing eye injuries in children, signs of possible eye problems and general eye health. Find more information at www.preventblindness.org.
As parents and caregivers, we want to keep our children safe from unnecessary accidents and injuries. Considering the importance of our eyes, it can be devastating when a child endures an eye injury.
A child injury lawyer can help
If your child’s sight was damaged or they lost partial or full vision through an accident caused by the negligence of another, contact a child injury lawyer as soon as possible. The child injury attorney can discuss your legal rights and may be able to help recover damages on your child’s behalf.
How to prevent eye injuries in children
These eye safety tips from the Mayo clinic can help you protect kids eyes from unnecessary accidents:
- Explain the importance of being careful when using sharp objects.
- Never allow a child to run while holding a sharp tool like scissors, pencils, forks and knives.
- Young children should be supervised when they use sharp tools like fishhooks and knives.
- Store sharp knives and other sharp tools in locked cabinets or far out of kids reach.
- Keep children out of the yard when mowing the lawn or weed eating because of the risk of flying debris.
- Store dangerous chemicals locked away or far out of kids reach.
- If you have babies or toddlers in your home, install safety gates at the top and bottom of stairs and cover sharp furniture edges with cushioning material.
- Use properly installed and weight/height/age appropriate car seats for your children.
- Place loose, heavy items in the trunk or secure them to the floor of the vehicle so they can’t fly around the car in case of a crash.
- Do not allow your children to play with laser pointers, BB Guns, pellet guns, and projectile toys like a real bow and arrow and missile firing toys.
- Your children should be wearing protective eyewear when playing sports that involve pucks, sticks, bats or flying objects.
- Only allow your children to play with dogs under supervision and when the owner says that the dog is good with children.
Signs and symptoms of eye injuries
- Pain
- Blood in the white of the eye
- Difficulty opening the eye or seeing
- An object stuck on the eye or under the eyelid
- One eye not moving properly or sticking out more than the other
- Unusual pupil size or shape
What to do if your child has an eye injury
Seek medical help from an ophthalmologist or other doctor as soon as possible. In the meantime, do not touch, rub or apply pressure to the eye. Do not try to remove an object stuck to the eye or apply any ointment or medication to the eye. Do flush out chemicals with clean water and gently apply a shield or gauze patch over the eye.
If you have lost a loved one or been injured through no fault of your own, you have enough on your plate. Let an experienced accident attorney fight for the justice and fair compensation that you deserve. It is not uncommon to receive a settlement from the insurance company that is five to ten times larger with the help of a lawyer. Call the caring, tireless and experienced personal injury attorneys at Tario & Associates, P.S. in Bellingham, WA today for a FREE consultation! We have been representing residents of Whatcom County, Skagit County and surrounding areas since 1979. You will pay nothing up front and no attorney fees at all unless we recover damages for you!
