Firefighters in Las Vegas tweeted a photo of a burned 9-month-old baby to warn parents of a summer safety issue we might not automatically think of. They shared the photo of Arizona mom Dominique Woodger’s toddler son, saying:
Here in Las Vegas, a garden hose exposed to direct sunlight during summer can heat the water inside the hose (not flowing) to 130-140 degrees which can cause burns especially to children & animals. Let the water flow a few minutes to cool before spraying on people or animals. pic.twitter.com/FMkzEt27xl
— Las Vegas FireRescue (@LasVegasFD) June 4, 2018
Now I don’t live in Arizona or Las Vegas, but even here in Ohio with many many 90+ degree summer days, I can imagine that this summer safety warning is much-needed. I can say personally that I have never given a second thought to the temperature of the water inside my garden hose when I’ve turned it on for the sprinkler or the slip ‘n slide for my kiddos, but in many cases, just such a spray has had dire consequences.
Woodger’s story is told in this Parenting.com, telling them that the incident where her son received 2nd-degree burns over 30 [percent] of his body happened while she was filling a baby pool full of water for him to play in. As she began spraying the hose in the direction of the baby pool, very hot water came into contact with her son as he sat on the ground.
“It’s heartbreaking. It is. It sucks. All of it was peeling. He had blisters all over the right side,” Woodger told ABC 15 News. At first, she had no idea what was happening. “I thought he was crying because he was mad because he hates when he gets sprayed in the face. I didn’t think that it was burning him,” she said.
But soon the painful truth became all too clear. Happily, Woodger’s son recovered well from his injuries, but she wanted to share her story to bring this summer safety issue to the attention of all parents. Thanks to that tweet from the Las Vegas fire department using her son’s photo and story, parents such as myself who have never heard this warning or thought of this danger before are now being informed and educated.
