ELFS News Autumn/Winter 2015

Autumn/Winter 2015
ELFS NEWS
It is widely recognized that underfives are particularly prone to
injuries in and around the home.
Resulting in nearly half a million
visits to emergency departments
in England each year.
ELFS was developed locally in 2002.
Its overall objective is to reduce the number
of young children that are killed or
seriously injured as a result of accidental
injury. It aims to do this by raising
awareness of the most prevalent causes of
accidental injury in 3 to 5 year olds.
MCC Schools and Children’s
Centres can enhance their
delivery of ELFS by requesting
workshops for parents/carers
and/or children.
Injuries that Public Health England
(PHE)* recently identified as the leading
preventable causes of death and serious
long-term harm in the under-fives.
*PHE, Reducing unintentional injuries in and around the
home among children under 5 years, 2014.
Free interactive resources allow
Manchester City Council (MCC) Schools
and Children’s Centres to deliver important
safety messages to children in this agegroup.
Contact us at:
elfs.prevention@cmft.nhs.uk
Visit
www.cmft.nhs.uk/education-andtraining/health-educationinterventions/elfs
0161 276 6955/8801
@ManchesterELFS
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ELFS workshops
As a result of budget cuts in
2015/16, and following
consultation with existing ELFS
schools and centres, we now
allocate either a morning or
afternoon session for your
workshop(s).
This is staffed by just two
ELFS trainers, and we ask you
to request (when booking your
workshops) if you would like
us to work with …
Once we have agreed a date for
your workshop(s) we will email
you an Allocation of Date Pack.
On receipt of this please check the
date and times of your
workshop(s).
If you are happy with these and
our terms and conditions, you
and your head of school/centre
need to sign the agreement form.
You need to return a copy of your
signed agreement form to ELFS to
secure your workshops.
… just the parents/carers.
… just the children.
… the parents/carers for 1 ½
hours followed by abbreviated
workshop(s) for the children.
Following your request/opt in,
we will confirm by email
whether or not we are able to
deliver ELFS workshop(s) in
your school/centre. This is
determined by funding, capacity,
and whether or not you meet the
criteria that we have agreed with
our commissioners.
In the half-term before your
workshop(s) we will email you a Visit
Pack. This details …
… Our requirements to effectively
deliver your ELFS workshop(s).
… The link to our web pages where
you can download posters, flyers,
letters etc to promote any parent/carer
workshop.
… How you can best prepare the
parents/carers and/or children for
their workshop(s).
Please complete and return (approximately
2 weeks before your workshop(s)) the Reply
Form from your Visit Pack to help us best
prepare for your workshop(s).
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Elfie Bear the “Star” of our
children’s workshops
ELFS workshop
photographs
We would really appreciate you
sharing any ELFS photographs
with us. We may use them in
newsletters or on our web pages.
We do have technology to alter
photographs to make
participants unrecognisable if
required.
The children are provided with an
opportunity to talk about …
… The different injuries that Elfie has
sustained.
… How and why Elfie’s injuries may
have occurred.
… What Elfie should have done
differently to help to keep himself
safe.
Every day babies, toddlers and
small children get badly burned
by hair straighteners.
Keep e-cigarettes
and their refills
well out of the
sight and reach of
young children.
Nicotine is highly poisonous. It is
thought that just a few drops of
liquid nicotine would be enough to
kill a small child!
Children have been admitted to
hospital after just licking an
e-cigarette refill!
For further information on the
risk that hair straighteners &
e-cigarettes pose to small
children visit:
Child Accident Prevention Trust
at www.capt.org.uk
Hair straighteners get so hot that you
could cook your breakfast on them!
They also stay hot for a long time!
Keep hair straighteners out of the
sight and reach of babies and small
children even when you’re not using
them.
Update on ELFS parent/carer
activity and information book
Producing/printing this is one of the
more costly elements of ELFS, to help
us to effectively absorb budget cuts, we
are looking into developing this
resource as an app.
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New campaign
to keep children
safe from liquid
detergent
capsules.
Visit www.keepcapsfromkids.eu
to learn more and watch a video
showing how babies and toddlers
explore the world by putting
everything in their mouth.
New safety standards
(the capsules and how they are
packaged) to reduce the risks of
poisoning and other injuries,
came into force earlier this year.
Manufacturers have 6 months to
comply. All household
chemicals (& medicines) should
always be locked away, out of
the sight and reach of small
children. Visit www.capt.org.uk
for more information.
Feedback from autumn term
schools & centres to …
… Do you think participation in ELFS
will change the children’s and/or
parent’s/carer’s knowledge, attitudes
and beliefs about safety?
"Yes - Parents will now be aware
& able to look out for possible
dangers."
"Yes - Parents not aware of
safety – now go away with
some knowledge."
Woodville Children’s Centre
October 2015
“Yes - All parents and children
are eager to help and learn more
about health (safety/accident
prevention) and to prevent injury.
Thank you so much for your
superb input. We are
disappointed to hear of the cuts
to your project as your staffs
deliver it so well."
St Margaret Mary’s RC
Primary School
November 2015
"Yes - Thank you again for a
wonderful day. All our children,
parents and staff are very
grateful."
St Malachy’s RC
Primary School
October 2015
Mount Carmel RC
Primary School
October 2015
"Yes - The parents are more
aware of what to do if their child is
choking."
Rusholme Children’s Centre
November 2015
Feedback from staff and
parents/carers is an essential part of
our performance monitoring, so
please take a few minutes to complete
and return any evaluation paperwork.
Your feedback will help to ensure the
ongoing quality and sustainability of
ELFS.
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Parent/carer workshops
The workshop has been designed for the
parents/carers of 3 – 5 year old children
to raise their awareness of …
Autumn term parent/carer
comments to …
… What was the most important
thing that you learned today?
… Accidental injuries that this agegroup are most at risk of.
… Simple engineering measures,
environmental and behavioral changes
that may help to reduce the incidence
and/or severity of future accidental injury
to their child.
… How and when to access different
health services.
The parents/carers are also taught
and given the opportunity to
practice some basic first aid
skills.
We are commissioned to deliver
Child Accident Prevention Education
to 3 – 5 year old children and their
parents/carers. If you specifically
require a first aid course or training
for parents/carers of babies,
toddlers or older children please
help us to make best use of our
limited funding by booking this
through another suitable provider.
"How to deal with potentially life
threatening injuries."
Mount Carmel R C Primary School
October 2015
"Information about health
services that are available."
Rusholme Children’s Centre
November 2015
"Everything – the part on
home poisonings especially."
St Margaret Mary’s RC
Primary School
November 2015
"Each and every part was
related to life risk - so nothing
was not useful."
Woodville Children’s Centre
October 2015
"Keeping medicines safe.
CPR for babies, children &
adults. Keeping myself safe
while helping others."
St Malachy's RC Primary School
October 2015
If a parent/carer tells you that they
have benefitted from ELFS
information, or put any of the skills
that they have learned into action,
please let us know.
elfs.prevention@cmft.nhs.uk
"Everything! Learned so much
that I can apply in the home."
St Aidan’s Catholic Primary School
October 2015
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Child resistant safety caps not
child proof!
Many 3-4 year olds can open these
caps in seconds!
Over the counter medicines like
everyday painkillers are the number
one cause of accidental poisonings
for children under the age of five!
The risks
associated
with button
batteries and
young children
can rise in the lead up to
Christmas!
Button batteries can be found in a
wide range of household objects that
children love to play with – car key
fobs, remote controls, watches,
children’s toys and books.
They can also be found in lots of
Christmas novelty items such as
flashing, musical Santa hats, cards
and decorations!
Staff in our Children’s
Emergency Department (Royal
Manchester Children’s Hospital)
report that dog bites are on the
rise.
Most of these occur with family pets
in the home. The Dog’s Trust
reports that the rate of hospital
admissions for dog bites is highest
among the 0-9 year age group.
Visit www.learnwithdogstrust.org.uk
to learn about the new Dog Smart
campaign. Teaching children some
very simple rules could help to
prevent many dog bites!
If a child swallows a button battery and it
gets stuck in their throat, this can trigger
the electric charge that they carry and
create caustic soda. This can burn a hole
in the throat and lead to serious internal
bleeding and death.
Please make parents/carers aware that
if their child swallows a button
battery this is a medical emergency
(straight to A & E or dial 999)!
Further information is available at
www.capt.org.uk
Please share the information
within this newsletter, and/or the
associated Autumn/Winter 2015
Information & Activities with the
parents/carers of as many 3-5
year olds as possible
Manchester ELFS
wishes all children,
staff, parents &
carers
a safe &