Archive for safety
Pass the pie and a mask: COVID-19 safety tips for the holidays
This holiday season will seem different than the last one — but it’s still not the season to blissfully ignore health and safety measures that combat COVID-19. Thanks to the availability of COVID-19 vaccines, families shouldn’t feel obligated to repeat last year’s unprecedented public health guidance to hunker down at home for the holidays. This ... Read More
Cavities are no trick: How to balance Halloween candy with healthy teeth
Believe it or not, dentists don’t dislike Halloween. They don’t secretly wish for kids to not eat candy. What dentists do want is for children to avoid certain ultra-sugary sweets and to practice moderation when munching through the contents of their trick-or-treat bags. “It’s important for kids to have fun,” says Matthew Harper, DDS, an associate ... Read More
Lead exposure remains a problem for some children
Lead poisoning has been with us since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. But it wasn’t until the late 1970s that strong laws were passed to reduce lead in the environment. And 40+ years later, a large national study still finds evidence of possibly harmful lead exposure in young children, especially those living in low-income ... Read More
Send your kids to camp with peace of mind: Safety guidelines to look for this summer
After this past year, it may be hard to remember what a “normal” summer feels like, but as communities reopen, reclaiming the “normal” summer experience can be a reality for your family. We spoke with clinicians from Boston Children’s Primary Care Alliance about how to navigate camps and other summer activities as safety guidelines constantly evolve. The ... Read More
Suicide prevention in teens: Can we intervene through primary care?
The past year has seen a disturbing rise in suicidal thoughts and attempts among adolescents, with a spike of suicidal teens going to emergency departments (EDs). This adds to a growing trend: From 2007 to 2016, ED visits for deliberate self-harm more than quadrupled nationwide among children age 5 to 17. In a recent review ... Read More
Boston Children’s Simulator Program steps up during COVID-19
In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals scrambled to adapt and prepare. Amid the chaos, the Boston Children’s Hospital Simulator Program, SIMPeds, sprang into action. SIMPeds is a world leader in running live simulations of care scenarios, allowing health care providers to rehearse tough or unanticipated situations in advance. Its SIMEngineering division is ... Read More
Avoiding a dangerous attraction to magnets: Lainey’s story
A few days before Valentine’s Day in 2013, 2-year-old Lainey Styles wasn’t feeling well. She had vomited, was lethargic, and had a fever. After visiting the pediatrician, her mother Jessica thought Lainey had a stomach virus. But the appearance of a softball size bruise around Lainey’s belly button a couple of days later prompted her ... Read More
Keeping kids safe this summer
Make sure your child remains safe both outside and indoors throughout the summer months by following these summer safety tips from Boston Children's.
Keep summer activities as safe as possible
As we move into a summer with COVID-19, many people are slowly venturing beyond their homes as businesses, beaches, and restaurants begin to open. But amidst the reopening, there are many questions about what types of behaviors are safe, and what might put you or your family at risk. While it’s important to remember that ... Read More
COVID-19 pandemic may put kids at risk for accidental poisonings
In the effort to keep kids safe from the new coronavirus, families could be unwittingly putting them at risk for another threat: accidental poisonings. According to the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, calls to Poison Control Centers during January through March 2020 regarding accidental disinfectant and cleaning exposures increased by 20 percent compared ... Read More