Safe Kids Kansas offers camping safety tips
Campfires, camping gear, and hiking trails present special safety considerations for families with children. Preparations for a family camping trip should include a review of safety guidelines for outdoor recreation, water, and falls. Parents also should pay attention to potential hazards specific to camping and hiking.
Camping is the only situation where a family is purposely starting a fire outdoors a long way from pressurized water or a fire engine.
In addition to the danger of starting an uncontrolled brush fire, campfires, like portable stoves, heaters, and fuel-burning lanterns, produce carbon monoxide, an odorless gas that can quickly poison a child. About 30 campers each year die of carbon monoxide poisoning.
If someone near a campfire or portable stove seems drowsy, disoriented, or sick, move them away from the fire immediately to fresh air.
Other precautions to observe are:
— Actively supervise children near a campfire or portable stove. Follow posted rules regarding campfires and do not light fires in windy or excessively dry conditions.
— Keep a bucket of water and shovel near the fire al all times. Extinguish the fire completely before going to sleep or leaving the site.
— Keep matches and lighters out of children's reach. Never use matches, lighters, or any device powered by kerosene, propane, or other heating fuel inside a tent or camper.
Observe these precautions around the campsite and on a trail:
— Keep first aid supplies and emergency phone numbers handy and know where the nearest phone is located. Cell phones may not work in remote areas. Let friends and relatives know where you are going and when you will return.
— Dress children in layers of clothing to help prevent heat-related illness and hypothermia. A child's body temperature changes faster than an adult's.
— Never let children hike alone.
— Don't push children to go on a longer or more strenuous hike than they can handle. Exhausted children are more likely to fall, wander off, or otherwise get injured.
— Bring plenty of drinking water or sports drinks, and high-energy snacks.
— Children should wear hiking boots and clothing that offers protection from scrapes, bites, and poisonous plants.
