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Show Child Safety Crusade Emphasizes Reduction Of Home Hazards Which Take Heavy Toll Plans for a week-long Child Safety Crusade starting Sunday, April 25, to encourage parents to rid their homes of accident hazards which kill and cripple children were announced yes-day yes-day by Dr. George A. Spendlove, state health director. The health official said the crusade is an annual event to highlight the department's year-round year-round safety education activities. The period has been officially proclaimed Child Safety Week by Governor J. Bracken Lee. In his proclamation the chief executive of the state has called on all mothers and fathers to cooperate in a move to reduce home accidents.. "More children are killed and crippled as a result of home accidents acci-dents than by any of the six leading diseases more than traffic." Thousands Lose Lives In announcing plans for the annual event, he pointed out that last year more than 12,500 children under 15 years of age were killed, 50,000 were permanent perm-anent ly crippled, and 1,500,000 were disabled in accidents. Unlike most statistics, these are not just cold facts," he said. "These are statistics that once were children." "These are children that were, but no longer are. These are children who escaped death only I to spend their lives in untold physical and mental pain all I because of accidents that need not have happened." Causes of accidents in the home area, he said, include falls, electrocutions, burns, drownings, poisonings, strangulations, and shootings. The health official stated that while home accidents happen suddenly, they usually have been a long time in the making. "The lye soap that the toddler ate has been und.?r the kitchen sink for months. The scissors have been lying in mother's sew-ing sew-ing basket waiting for baby to maim himself. The habit of leaving leav-ing the pot handle sticking out over the edge of the stove has existed for many years." |