3 March 2008

Safe Home for Me

A new online accident prevention resource www.safehome4me.com has been launched for children.

Developed by the Southern Health and Social Care Trust, the website has been designed for pre-school and primary school settings but can also be used at home to raise awareness of accident prevention.

Through a series of interactive games and watch and learn sequences, the website introduces children to behavioural, product and environmental risk factors that can lead to common home accidents.

The teachers’ pack which accompanies the website covers a range of safety topics, encourages discussion and provides further activities for children. Copies of the pack are being sent to every nursery and primary school in the Trust area.

Accident prevention topics covered in www.safehome4me.com include; bouncing (trampoline) accidents; burns and scalds; falling and crashing; poisoning; ear, nose and mouth accidents and; contacting the emergency services.

Designed by Aurion, the resource has been funded by the Southern Health and Social Services Board through the Northern Ireland Home Accident Prevention Strategy and was developed in consultation with the Southern Area Accident Prevention Liaison Group.

Last year there were 3336 attendances at Accident and Emergency Departments across Northern Ireland due to home accidents, 445 of these in the Southern Health and Social Care Trust area.

Launching www.safehome4me.com Melanie McClements, Assistant Director of Promoting Wellbeing for the Southern Health and Social Care Trust said: “This resource will help children to develop attitudes around keeping themselves and others safe and show them what to do if an accident happens. The scenarios and games on the website work best if explained and discussed with an adult initially, but once children are familiar with the site, they can continue to use it alone. We hope that children will be encouraged to bring this learning home to share with parents and carers to change their behaviours or modify the home to reduce the risk of accidents.”

Joan Shine, Assistant Advisory Officer with the Southern Education and Library Board said: “This site, www.safehome4me.com complements the strands of Personal Development and Mutual Understanding (PDMU) as set out in the Northern Ireland Curriculum for Foundation Stage and Key Stage One pupils. The site is presented in a way which is well suited for use on interactive whiteboards which most schools have purchased. It will be a useful tool for teachers as it focuses directly on everyday activities that children do, so their interest and imagination will be stimulated.”