Q: Can you really drown in a bathtub?

Answer:

It’s true, people can drown in as little as one inch of water. This is especially important to remember around babies. Babies can’t support their heads on their own, so they can fall over into a bathtub, toilet or even a bucket that your parents might use to wash the car. It’s just common sense to keep a close eye on babies, because they really are depending on you and your parents to stay safe.

Even when you’ve outgrown diapers and bottles, you should be careful in the bathroom. Bathtubs and floors can become slippery with water, and one hard fall is not only painful, it could hurt your head – maybe even knock you unconscious. You could fall into water without ever knowing what happened! Grown-ups, especially your grandparents, need to be just as careful of hurting themselves in the bathroom, too.

Although nothing you can buy can guarantee safety, it’s a good idea to have nonskid mats on the bathtub floor and rubber-bottom mats on the bathroom floor. They can give you better footing on a slippery surface.

Steve Finch, Clinical Operations Director

Activities:

With the first day of winter coming soon, what steps can you take to help assure that you will stay healthy this winter? Bathing daily is one way to help wash away germs, what other activities should be done daily for a healthier you?

Look in today’s Healthy Living section of The Herald-Sun and make a list of those things that you find discussed in articles that will help keep you healthy. Look around your home tonight and make a list of safety precautions that you and your family could put in place to help avoid accidents in the home.