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A Spotlight On Safety

STAFF photo by ROBERT BURKE / Tampa Tribune

Childen point their flashlights to the potential dangerous items inside a kitchen in becoming Safety Rangers. The Great Safety Adventure semi-truck made a stop at Lithia Springs School with a mockup home inside to teach students home safety.

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By LIZ BLEAU, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 13, 2007

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VALRICO - A number of homes in Hillsborough County probably are safer today than they were a few weeks ago, thanks to unexpected inspections - not by official government teams but by newly deputized, pint-sized safety rangers.

Children at Lithia Springs Elementary School became rangers last week when they learned to be on the lookout for safety risks at home while touring a makeshift home designed and built specifically to teach children.

The Great Safety Adventure is a traveling educational program offered by the Home Safety Council, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing home-related injuries. The 'house,' which has been traveling across the Tampa Bay area in recent weeks as part of a national tour, stopped by Lithia Springs.

As students from Faith Clark's second-grade class approached it, they were greeted by Rover, the Home Safety Council's mascot, who lives in the house.

An adult ranger, Luis Rojas, handed the children small flashlights as they entered the first room, where an animated cartoon version of Rover introduced them to household dangers and the idea of calling for adults to help in some situations.

'Code Red Rover, grown-up come over,' the roomful of children yelled as they spotted matches near a simulated fireplace.

Next, a trip to the kitchen revealed several dangerous areas - a pot on a red burner on the stove and an open cabinet door under the sink. Rojas said children need to stay outside the 'kid zone,' or about 3 feet from the stove. If household chemicals and cleaners are stored under the sink, that cabinet needs a lock to keep small children out, he said.

As the students pointed their flashlights toward the pot, it was mechanically removed, as if by magic, and when they shone their lights on the cabinet door, it appeared to close on its own.

The next area was the bathroom, where children aimed their lights on a small, crumpled rug, which could be tripped on. As the light shone on the rug, it flattened itself out. Next, bottles of pills disappeared from the bathroom counter as the lights hit them. A hair dryer plugged into an electrical outlet was removed and replaced by another, which was unplugged and placed higher in the room - out of small children's reach. Safety covers protected the outlets.

In Rover's bedroom, the children were given instructions on fire safety.

'When the smoke alarm goes off, don't grab the doorknob,' Rojas told the students. 'It could be very hot, and you might burn your hand and make it hard for you to exit through the window.'

He showed the children how to use the backs of their hands to determine whether a door or doorknob is hot. They also learned that once a door is open and they see smoke, they need to get low to the ground and make their way out.

As artificial smoke made to smell like pancake syrup floated into the bedroom, the children crawled out.

Ashley Russo, 7, said the exhibit taught her how to stop and drop if there is a fire or smoke.

'I learned how to go out a window or a door,' she said.

The small flashlights were popular. Jacob Zeke, 7, said that was the best part.

Alex Brocato, 7, said he liked the choruses of 'Code Red Rover' the students were prompted to yell out at various times. He planned to visit Rover's Web site, www.codered rover.org, where parents and children can learn about The Great Safety Adventure and access games and safety tips.

The exhibit will travel to Bay area schools through Thursday and will visit several area Lowe's stores, including today at Lowe's of Tampa at 12901 N. Dale Mabry Highway and Oct. 20 at the New Tampa store at 6201 Commerce Palms Drive. All Lowe's exhibits will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

AT RISK AT HOME

•The home is the second-most common place where fatal accidental injuries happen.

•An average of 3.4 million home injuries sustained by children and teens younger than 15 - which don't result in death - are treated in hospital emergency rooms each year.

•Most accidents in the home don't result in death; for every one fatal injury sustained by those younger than 15 there are nearly 1,500 nonfatal ones.

•Children between ages 1 and 4 have the highest rates of nonfatal accidents in the home.

•Falls are the leading cause of nonfatal home injuries among children younger than 15, accounting for an average of 1.3 million injuries each year.

Source: Home Safety Council

DEDICATED TO SAFETY

The 'home' used for The Great Safety Adventure is about the size of a small house, almost 1,000 square feet. It unfolds from a semitrailer to become a replica of a house with a living room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and back yard.

Children and parents who tour the home become safety rangers as they join tour guides and Rover, the program's 'home safety hound,' to search the house and find common safety hazards, including the risk of slips and falls, poisonings, fires and burns, choking, suffocation and drowning.

The initiative is sponsored by Lowe's Home Improvement stores and has been educating children in elementary schools across the country about home safety for nine years.

Source: The Great Safety Adventure

Reporter Liz Bleau can be reached at (813) 865-1557 or lbleau@tampatrib.com.

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