Children's Offers Holiday Safety Tips, Interactive Web Page Helps Parents Spot Dangers

Children's Offers Holiday Safety Tips, Interactive Web Page Helps Parents Spot Dangers

DALLAS, Dec. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Children's Medical Center Dallas has developed an interactive Internet site to educate parents and caregivers about potential dangers lurking throughout the house during the Christmas season.

The injury prevention Web site is located at http://www.childrens.com/holidaysafety.cfm . There also is an active link from http://www.childrens.com/ . To play the interactive animation on the activity page a flash player, which can be downloaded for free, must be installed as a plug-in.

The child-friendly animation depicts three commonly used rooms in a house: living room, kitchen and a stairway area. Arrows at the bottom of the animation allow users to move from the living room by clicking the right arrow to visit the kitchen and the left arrow to visit the stairway area.

In each room, visitors can move the cursor around the room and hot spots appear. When clicked, the hot spots identify hazards and safety devices and show tips on how to prevent injuries. The hazards include fire, burns, falls and potential choking hazards.

"By making it fun and interactive, we are hoping to alert both parents and children to the potential for hazards during the holiday season," Seana Tamisea, manager of the injury prevention program at Children's and the Dallas-Fort Worth area coordinator for SAFE KIDS, the national injury prevention organization. "When families explore the interactive guide together, they can discuss the best ways to stay safe in their home during the holidays."

In addition to the safety and injury prevention site, the Children's Web site hosts about 1,100 pages of pediatric medical information that includes everything from minor bumps and bruises to complex heart surgery. Reviewed by pediatricians and pediatric medicine experts from a multitude of specialties, the award-winning Web site is one of the most comprehensive medical Internet sites in the country.

Additions such as the interactive holiday safety guide are part of an ongoing effort by Children's to offer up-to-date and credible pediatric medical information to the public.

Children's Medical Center Dallas is one of the largest pediatric medical centers in the United States and provides care to more than 325,000 children annually. The hospital is known for its comprehensive pediatric ICU, specialty outpatient clinics and a state-of-the-art emergency center. Information about Children's can be found on the Internet at http://www.childrens.com/ .

Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20031011/DACHILDRENSLOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: Children's Medical Center Dallas

CONTACT: Rachel Blacketer or Reyes Abila, both for Children's Medical
Center Dallas, +1-214-456-5310

Web site: http://www.childrens.com/
http://www.childrens.com/holidaysafety.cfm


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