PAC F100 Instructions For Use Manual - page 8
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P a g e
In Ontario:
Household injuries are most common among children zero to four years of age (Peden et al,
2008)
Local
If local stats are available, this is a great time to share them with participants.
Leading Ontario Child Injuries
There are many ways a child can be injured. Children under five years old are most often
injured from a fall, scald or burn, or they are poisoned (Ontario Injury Prevention Resource
Centre, 2012; Yanchar et al, 2012). Falls can happen from change tables, cribs, furniture, or
down stairs. Scalds and burns can happen from spilled coffee or tea, bath water that is too hot,
or hot foods. Children can be poisoned by prescription or over the counter medication,
vitamins, cleaning supplies, hand sanitizer, or make-up. Other less common injuries also happen
and are also important to prevent.
The importance of play
Play is an important part of early child development. Through play, children develop their:
fine and gross motor skills
language skills through interactions
social and emotional skills
The aim of promoting child safety is not to reduce children’s physical activity or to prevent
them from exploring their environment due to the fear of them getting hurt. Therefore, injury
prevention efforts are focused on recognizing and reducing the risks for serious injuries so the
child can be kept safe during play or any other situation – not to restrict their movements or
reduce their play time.