Holidays and Eye Safety

The holiday season is in full swing–Christmas trees are being decorated and lights hung, family celebrations are being planned, and gifts are being purchased. But in the midst of the busyness of this time of year, it is important to keep eye safety in the forefront of our minds when preparing for these celebrations, especially in the kinds of presents we give to others, but particularly to children.

Prevent Blindness, the nation’s leading organization dedicated to fighting blindness and providing vision support, urges everyone to use good judgment in the gifts and toys that they give this season, since the most commonly injured part of the body is the head and face area. The eye is sensitive and easily hurt to it is important to consider the potential hazards of any toy.

Prevent Blindness tells us that “in 2011, the American Product Safety Commission (CPSC) estimated that hospital emergency rooms across the country treated 262,300 toy-related injuries. And, 74 percent of those injuries were to children under the age of 15. In fact, more than 92,000 were to those under 5 years of age.”

These statistics should not be taken lightly. The people at Prevent Blindness are so passionate about eye safety, and personal safety in general, that they are providing the public with some tips to remember as they shop, especially for toys. These include avoiding toys with sharp points or dangerous edges, buying instead those made with impact-resistant materials, and avoiding toys that have parts that may fly off. It’s also a good idea to provide eye protection with the gift of sports equipment. Finally, they suggest to look for toys labeled with the initials “ASTM”, meaning that the toy has met the national safety standards laid out by the American Society for Testing and Materials.

Read the entire article at http://preventblindness.org/make-safe-toys-and-gifts-priority and remember to keep safety a priority this holiday season.

The best holiday wishes to you and your family from all of us at Bonner Eye Clinic.