Men's Health magazine has ranked Baltimore as the third most unsafe city in the United States to raise a child.
The magazine determined its rankings by looking at five factors: accidental death rates, the number of car seat inspection locations per child, sex offenders per capita, the percentage of abused children protected from further abuse, and the strength of bike helmet and child restraint laws.
The researchers gathered the information from government agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
The magazine looked at 100 cities.
Baltimore ranked 98th for accidental deaths, 72nd for car-seat inspections, 75th for sex offenders and 73rd for abused children protection. The city received an overall grade of F. The unsafest city was Jacksonville, FL, and the safest was Madison, Wis.
In light of the study, the Home Safety Council offers these tips to keep your child safe:
Keep Your Child Safe from Choking and Suffocation
- Children can choke on small things. If something is small enough to fit in a toilet paper tube, it is not safe for little children.
- Look in every room of your home. Pick up small items like buttons, coins, jewelry and small toys.
- Keep latex balloons out children’s reach – use mylar balloons instead.
- Watch carefully for loose magnets. If more than one is swallowed, they can attract each other in the body and cause serious injury or even death.
- Read the labels of all toys before you let your child play with them. Make sure your child is old enough to use that toy. The label will tell you the safe age.
- Cut your toddler’s food into very small bites. Always make sure children eat while sitting down. Do not let them have round food like peanuts or hard candy.
- Window blind cords should not have a loop. Cut any loop in two pieces and place them up high where children cannot get them.
Keep Your Child Safe around Water
- Drowning can happen very fast. Most of the time you will not hear someone drowning.
- Stay within an arm’s reach of young children when they are in or near water.
- Have toilet lid locks and use them.
- Put locks on the outside of the bathroom door to keep children out.
- Store large buckets turned over, so water cannot collect inside them. Very young children can drown in 1-2 inches of water.
- Put a fence all the way around your pool or spa. The fencing should be at least five feet high and a self-closing and self-latching gate. Always keep the gate closed and locked.
- Hot water burns like fire. Set your water heater at 120 degrees Fahrenheit to prevent burns.
- Use a water thermometer to test bath water. The water temperature should be at 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Babies and young children have delicate skin. Install special tub spouts and shower heads that prevent hot water burns.
Keep Your Child Safe from Falls
- Use safety gates at the tops and bottoms of stairs. For the top of stairs, gates that screw to the wall are more secure than “pressure gates.”
- Always use safety straps on high chairs, changing tables, and strollers.
- Wipe up spills when they happen.
- Have window guards or window stops on upper windows. But make sure you can open the window fast in case of a fire.
- Cover the ground under playground equipment with a thick layer (9-12 inches) of mulch, wood chips or other safety material.
Keep Your Child Safe from Poisons
- Know the things in your home that are poisons.
- Look at the labels for the words “Caution,” “Warning,” “Danger” or “Keep Out of Reach of Children” on the box or bottle.
- Remove all medicines and medical supplies from purses, pockets and drawers.
- Put cleaners, medicines, alcohol and other poisons in a cabinet with a child safety lock or latch.
- Have child safety caps on all chemicals, medications and cleaning products.
- Know to call 1-800-222-1222 if someone takes poison. This number will connect you to emergency help in your area. Keep the number by every phone.
- Have a service person check your heaters, stove and fireplaces every year to see that they work well.
- These are a source of carbon monoxide, a deadly gas you cannot see, smell or taste.
- Put a carbon monoxide (CO) alarm near the bedrooms.
- A CO alarm will tell you if the gas level is too high.
Keep Your Child Safe from Fire
- Make sure a smoke alarm is inside or near every bedroom.
- Test each smoke alarm every month. Push the test button until you hear a loud noise.
- Put new batteries in your smoke alarms at least one time each year.
- If your smoke alarms are more than 10 years old, replace them with new smoke alarms.
- Practice fire drills to make sure everyone can wake up to the sound of the smoke alarm. Children will need help escaping a fire. Plan for this.
- In a fire, go to your meeting place outside. Call the fire department from there. Do not go back inside for any reason.
- Lock up all matches and lighters where children cannot see or touch them.