Summer safety starts here: creating memories for the right reasons

Summer is here and families are excited to spend quality time outdoors. To ensure that your summer stays full of fun times and good memories, the Montreal Children’s Hospital (MCH) Trauma Centre and Urgences-santé issue this important alert.

Every summer, the MCH Emergency Department treats more than 4,000 children and teens with assorted traumatic injuries, the majority of which are preventable.

Some important tips:

Water safety

In Quebec, one child or teen is seen in emergency rooms for drowning or near drowning each day in the summer. The MCH Trauma Centre sees at least one drowning or near drowning per week over the summer months.

According to the MCH Trauma Centre’s Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program (CHIRPP) data, 73 per cent of drownings seen in the MCH Emergency Department occurred in home pools, park pools, aquatic centres or water parks. In terms of home pools, 50 per cent of drownings happened in ground pools and the other half, in above-ground pools.

Preventing drowning requires a multipronged approach:

• Vigilant adult supervision: in person, close, undistracted and attentive surveillance of children around any body of water, all eyes on the water at all times. This means no phones, screens, books, and no chatting with neighbours or drinking alcohol; 
• The supervising adult should be within arm’s reach of anyone with weak swimming skills. If there are numerous children in that situation, additional supervision is required;
• Swimming lessons are encouraged;
• CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) training is recommended for anyone owning a pool;
• Never swim alone, regardless of age;
• Know the swimming skill level of those in your pool.

The government amended the Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act, requiring all owners of swimming pools in Quebec to install fencing and to ensure there is no direct access from the home to the pool. The government has given owners of older pools a grace period until September 2025 to conform to the new rules. Timely action is recommended.

Urgences-santé and the MCH Trauma Centre experts emphasize the following life-saving measures to prevent drowning:

• Install fencing compliant with Quebec regulations around the pool and ensure there is not direct access to the pool from the house or patio;
• For above-ground pools, ensure that your water filtration and heating systems are installed at least 1m from the pool to prevent agile children from climbing them.
• Close and lock the gate to the pool when not in use;
• When there is direct access to a lake, make sure doors from the house remain locked at all times to prevent a child from wandering into the water;
• Ensure that children are properly supervised and that their swim level is known when going on a field trip to a pool, lake or water park;
• Teach children to always swim with a buddy;
• Make sure to swim in an area that matches swimming ability.

“Every summer, our paramedics are called upon to intervene urgently with children who have drowned or suffered other accidents related to activities around water. These situations, often avoidable, remind us how essential prevention is. As paramedics, we know that every second counts and that every act of prevention is a worthwhile investment. That’s why Urgences-santé is proud to partner with the Montreal Children’s Hospital Trauma Centre to raise awareness of these serious issues,” says Stéphane Smith, Director of Communications, Urgences-santé.

Windows and balconies

At least 15 young children are seen at the MCH Trauma Centre each summer after falling from a window or balcony.

Screens are useful for keeping insects out, but are not strong enough to keep children in. They are flimsy and are weak barriers giving a false sense of security. Children can easily push through and fall out, sustaining life-threatening injuries.

Follow these important tips to keep them safe.

Windows:

• Do not place furniture such as a bed, chair or dresser in front of a window since it is an invitation to climb;
• Use window guards that limit window opening. Windows should not be able to open more than 10 cm (4 inches). These devices are available at hardware stores;

Balconies:

• Keep the door to a balcony locked at all times;
• Ensure that there is no furniture in close proximity to the railings to avoid encouraging climbing;
• Never leave a child alone on a balcony;
• If you have a barbecue on the balcony, keep a three metres child-free zone.

Electric scooters

It has been two years since Quebec launched a pilot project authorizing e-scooters and other motorized personal mobility devices such as gyroscopic vehicles on the road. This year, the MCH Trauma Centre has already treated more than quadruple the number of patients with e-scooter-related injuries seen in the same period last year.

“More than half of all injuries from e-scooters seen at the MCH Trauma Centre were in youth under the age of 14 with only 50 per cent wearing helmets,” underlines Debbie Friedman, MCH Trauma Director, Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program Director and Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Pediatric Surgery at McGill University.

Some of the injuries sustained include traumatic brain injuries, facial and dental trauma, assorted fractures, lacerations and sprains, she reports.

Some recommendations

The current regulations in Quebec include:

• Mandatory helmet;
• Maximum speed of 25 km/h;

• Lights and reflectors in the front and back;
• Riders must ride like cyclists, on bike paths or on the side of the road, adhering to the road rules;
• Minimum age of 14;
• No riding on roads with speed limits above 50 km/h;
• No riding on sidewalks;
• No passengers;
• No use of earphones or cellular phones;
• No impaired riding (alcohol or drugs);
• No riding on a bike path or a public path where there are signs indicating that it is not allowed.

The MCH Trauma Centre has reflected on additional recommendations that can further enhance the safety of the population:

• Quebec’s minimum age for riding e-scooters (14 years old) is currently below all other jurisdictions in Canada where there is a minimum age requirement.
• Most of Canada and much of the United States requires that riders be at least 16 years of age.
• Many of the injuries on e-scooters are caused by inadequate road conditions and not individual behaviour.

Everyone has a responsibility

“Legislation is useful if there is adequate enforcement, but will not prevent all injuries. If using an e-scooter, it is important to know the risks involved, be aware of the road rules, know where e-scooters are permitted and make sure to wear a properly fitted helmet, with a tightly closed strap,” reminds Liane Fransblow, Trauma Coordinator of the MCH Injury Prevention Program.

The MCH Trauma Centre and Urgences-santé urge everyone to follow the prevention recommendations and not let a beautiful day end in a preventable, life-altering tragic event.

For more injury prevention recommendations, visit Urgences-santé’s website and the MCH website.