A ‘shocking’ video is to be published by a national safety group tomorrow, Wednesday 19th October, to highlight to local residents the importance of burns awareness during Halloween, Diwali, and Bonfire Night.
In the video on the group’s social media accounts, a small child’s fancy dress costume is alight in moments after the floating fabric from the base of the costume comes into contact with a naked flame.
South West based group Buy Wise Be Safe decided to post the video in order to highlight the danger posed by fire; particularly with Halloween being preceded by the Indian festival of lights Diwali, and Bonfire Night following shortly afterwards.
All three festivals feature the use of flames and/or fireworks which can pose a particular threat to the delicate skin of babies and young children.
Today is the National Burns Awareness Day from the Children’s Burns Trust, which Buy Wise Be Safe is supporting and used as inspiration for its #BurnsAwarenessWeek which runs from 29th October to 5th November.
During the four week period surrounding Bonfire Night admissions to A&E for burn related injuries increase substantially; so to help parents keep their children safe Buy Wise Be Safe has launched the Burns Awareness Week campaign offering great advice to keep youngsters safe.
Stuart Radnedge, spokesman for Buy Wise Be Safe, said: “Every year around Bonfire Night many children suffer needless injuries that can occur in a moment but, in many cases, leave a scar or injury for a lifetime.”
“Children under the age of 5 should not be holding Sparklers but the risk of burns is still high if you leave naked flames exposed around your home, for example in a pumpkin lantern.
“Many young children will enjoy being a part of the festivities with the opportunity to dress up and transform the home with lanterns, carved pumpkins and other decorations.”
“However, as demonstrated in the video we published on our social media pages, some costumes can catch alight quickly – especially when they can have long trailing material attached that can easily burn if it drops onto a flame.”
“To try and make this four week period as safe as possible, we have provided some great advice on how to avoid the risks around the home which are prevalent at this time of year.”
To find the Burns Awareness safety tips, visit www.buywisebesafe.org.uk.