May 22, 2020   SOURCE: PR NewsWire

Stanford Children's Health Trauma Expert on How to Keep Children Safe at Home during COVID-19

STANFORD, Calif., May 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Stanford Children's Health published new information to help parents keep their children safe at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Q&A, featuring Stephanie Chao, MD, the trauma medical director for Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford and an assistant professor of surgery at the Stanford University School of Medicine, is available at https://healthier.stanfordchildrens.org/en/safe-at-home.

Chao's research focuses on preventing childhood injury, which is the leading cause of death among children. She notes that there are increased safety risks as children are sheltering-in-place at home with their families. Normally children are out of the house 7 to 10 hours a day in a supervised environment. Now these children are home, and parents are juggling more than they ever have had to before as they try to balance working from home, caring for and educating their kids.

To help keep kids safe during this time, Chao offers helpful tips for parents and caregivers, including:

    --  Survey your home. Things that can be used as a launching point for kids
        have to be put away.
    --  Make sure a bed or a couch isn't near a window, and install window locks
        or window guards. The number one cause of unintentional injury among
        children is falls outside of a window
    --  Ensure that cleaning supplies and medications are locked away
    --  If your child is going to run outside, make sure they are supervised
    --  For families with a pool, see that the gate is locked and that there is
        a child-safe pool cover
    --  Empty all kiddie pools, buckets and containers immediately after use,
        and store them upside down
    --  When riding bikes or scooters, make sure kids are wearing helmets

Within the article, Chao also discusses risks specific to teens, the potential impact of psychological trauma as a result of the pandemic, and coping mechanisms for parents during this time.

If parents have a concern about their child's health in an emergency situation, they should bring the child to the hospital. At Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford, care teams have made it very safe to bring children in during the pandemic through measures that include testing of all employees and staff for COVID-19, and treatment of all COVID-19 patients in a designated area of the hospital.

For more information about the Childhood Injury Prevention Program, visit safety.stanfordchildrens.org.

About Stanford Children's Health

Stanford Children's Health, with Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford at its center, is the Bay Area's largest health care system exclusively dedicated to children and expectant mothers. Our network of care includes more than 65 locations across Northern California and more than 85 locations in the U.S. Western region. As part of Stanford Medicine, a leading academic health system that also includes Stanford Health Care and Stanford University School of Medicine, we are cultivating the next generation of medical professionals and are at the forefront of scientific research to improve children's health outcomes around the world. We are a nonprofit organization committed to supporting the community through meaningful outreach programs and services and providing necessary medical care to families, regardless of their ability to pay. Discover more at stanfordchildrens.org.

Media contact:
Samantha Beal
media@stanfordchildrens.org
650-498-7056

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SOURCE Stanford Children's Health