RoSPA Press Office : Press Release
June 16, 2003
NEW BID TO CUT BURNS AND SCALDS AMONG WELSH CHILDREN
A major campaign to reduce the number of Welsh children suffering burns and scalds will be launched tomorrow (Tuesday, June 17) by a woman who was badly scalded as a toddler.
Thousands of posters and coasters in Welsh and English will be distributed throughout the principality to highlight the dangers of hot drinks, saucepans, teapots, kettles and baths. There are particular concerns about youngsters who pull hot drink on top of themselves from tables.
The message is: “Keep hot drinks away from children – scalds can scar for life”. A cup of tea will severely scald a child even 15 minutes after it has been poured.
Launching the campaign in the Pavilion, Llandrindod Wells, at 11 am on Tuesday, will be Liz Lewarne, of the Children’s Fire and Burns Trust. Liz, aged 23, is now a legal secretary with Eversheds in Cardiff, but when she was two she was severely burned from the neck down after jumping into a bath of scalding water. She had to undergo many operations, and now tries to stop other children suffering a similar fate.
The campaign is sponsored by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, the Wales Home Safety Council, Child Safe Wales, Swansea “Water Burns Like Fire” Scald Prevention Campaign, Healthcare Alliances and CAPIC the Collaboration of Accident Prevention and Injury Control).
The free posters and coasters will go out during Child Safety Week (June 23-29) to more than 70 projects dealing with young children, such as Sure Start, Home Start, health visitors and community groups.
The publicity materials will also provide the basis for larger projects run through local authorities and organisations including on the Isle of Angelsey, Conwy, Swansea, Cardiff and Powys. In North Wales, the Wales Home Safety Trailer will focus on the burns and scalds danger using its puppet theatre.
Jan Holdaway, RoSPA Home Safety Liaison Officer for Wales, said: “RoSPA estimates that 3,500 under–fives suffer burns and scalds in Wales each year and that one child a day will be seriously burned.
“The main emphasis of this campaign is on ‘pull-over scalds’ where young children are hurt by pulling over a hot drink left on a table or kitchen surface. It is hoped the free coasters will remind parents and carers to be careful where they place or drink their coffee and tea.”
