Safety at home

Please see below for update from the Child Accident Prevention Trust

“He swallowed the ‘flat’ battery when it was being replaced with a new one. We removed it within 3-4 hours but he had a nasty burn of his oesophagus.”

– Consultant gastroenterologist

We could be forgiven for thinking that, when a product no longer works, the lithium coin cell battery that was powering it is flat and no longer poses a risk to children.  But, as we have discovered, that’s not the case at all.

The dead or ‘flat’ battery you’ve just thrown into the recycling pot in the kitchen drawer can still do significant damage if a child swallows it and it gets stuck in their food pipe.  Many accidents happen without an adult knowing and with a child too young to tell them.

In some cases, batteries haven’t been detected for weeks.  A scary prospect. Happily, the solution is very simple as long as families know there is a danger.

Will you take a moment to share this simple message with the families you work with?

We know the latest lockdown advice will impact how much you can do with and for families. That’s why we’ve put together a range of digital resources that are simple to use and share, however you may be working.

More information

Share this email with colleagues so they can benefit from the insight and resources.

Here at the Child Accident Prevention Trust, we are committed to bringing you resources and support to make preventing serious injuries one less thing to worry about.  Do keep telling us what’s most useful for your families and we’ll do our best to help.

The CAPT team