Deadly week: Six children perish from preventable accidents

TV set falls on toddler; dog attacks baby; road accidents kill.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
child 370 (photo credit: Reuters)
child 370
(photo credit: Reuters)
In the past week, six children have died in preventable accidents, including a three-year-old child from Lod who died when a television set fell on his head.
Orly Silbinger, the director- general of Beterem – The Israel National Center for Child Safety and Health, said on Thursday that it was impossible to disregard the tragic facts.
“This rise in deaths was a [new] record of unnecessary deaths,” she said.
She sent a letter to this effect to all 120 MKs.
Other cases were a two-year-old girl, who was attacked by an unchained dog, and four children killed in road accidents.
There were additional cases in which children were seriously injured in preventable accidents, Silbinger said. “These tragedies can be prevented with little investment. We urge the public to call on the government to find time and act on this matter. We must save the children.”
In 2013 alone, 117 children – four full school classes – died in preventable accidents. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), of which Israel is a member, said recently that preventable accidents suffered by children “is an epidemic that must be reduced.”
Silbinger wrote to the MKs that every day some 500 children, suffering from preventable injuries, are taken to hospital emergency rooms. “Along with increased information and education, professionals who are responsible of taking care of children, or are in contact with them, must be trained to prevent accidents.
“Material must be culturally suited to populations, and there have to be intervention programs for sectors at risk. In addition, existing laws must be enforced to promote child safety,” Silbinger wrote. “When the summer arrives, we will again be shocked when small children are left in hot vehicles or drown in pools near their homes.”