Off Duty Safety of Sailors, Family Members, Key Concern For Navy
By Naval District Washington Public Affairs

Every day in the United States, 55 people die and another 58,000 people are injured as a result of an accident in the home, according to statistics released by the Home Safety Council. Common fatal or injury incidents include falls, fire, carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning and drowning.

Falls are the leading cause of emergency room visits among children and are also the leading cause of injury and deaths at home for older adults. Tips for preventing falls include installing grab bars in the shower and bathroom and placing bright lights over stairs, steps and landings. Other safety measures include handrails on both sides of stairs and using baby gates at the top and bottom of stairs if infants are in the home. Oneout of four people die from poisoning at home every year, so it is important to ensure that poisons are locked, away from children, avoid mixing chemicals and read all instructions on medicine.

CO is the number one cause of poisoning deaths in the United States. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, there are approximately 2,100 unintentional deaths and 10,000 injuries from CO every year in the U.S. The use of CO alarms could potentially prevent many of these fatalities and injuries.

Safety tips include installing alarms that have been tested by an independent testing laboratory inside the home and calling the local fire department’s non-emergency telephone number to find out the correct number to call if the alarm sounds.

In addition to working carbon monoxide alarms, it is also important to install smoke alarms which can cut the risk of dying in the home by nearly half. Tips to prevent death or injury from fire include staying by the stove when cooking, blowing out candles if you leave the room and placing space heaters away from anything that can burn.

Another significant safety problem is choking. According to the Home Safety Council, half of the number of children who die before age one die from choking or suffocation.

Items that can fit through a toilet paper tube can cause a child to choke. The council also insists that parents should not put pillows, comforters or toys in a baby’s crib.

Water safety is a key concern for the Navy’s safety center. The Navy experienced eight deaths in 2009 as a result of off-duty drowning.

Measuresto protect a persons residence from being the site of a water related injury or death include erecting a fence around the entire pool and ensuring that children are supervised at all times.