Lawn Mowers Send 13 Kids To Emergency Each Day

I was just a kid, maybe seven years old when my cousins came out to the farm in North Dakota from a suburb of Buffalo, New York.  And so yes, I was showing off. Thank God it was a manual push mower and not a power mower that lead to a week's stay in the hospital....

In a couple of weeks school will be out and all those young, eager and ambitious kids will be out there mowing the family lawn or securing contracts to mow all the neighbor's lawns. It's also the time of year when you'll want to keep a close eye on children around lawn mowers.

The good news from researchers at the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital is that the number lawn mower injuries for kids is down but the bad news is that an average of 13 children are treated in the emergency room for lawn mower injuries each day.

Younger kids are more likely to be injured by touching the hot surface of the mower and were also more likely to have back-over injuries or bystander/passenger injuries.

The most common types of injuries were cuts, making up 39 percent of all lawn mower-related injuries. Researchers urge preventive measures to protect against lawn mower injuries, including safety lessons and supervising teens while operating them.

Children should be at least 12 to use a push mower, experts say, and 16 to operate a ride-on lawn mower.  And while I’m no expert, take it from me and the missing 1/4^th of an inch of my left middle finger, mowers and kids can be a risky combination!