Safety - Preventing Hot Water Scalds |
There are many dangers inside the home.. one you may not have thought of, is the hot water that comes from your taps. In fact there are thousands of scalding injuries each year in Canada and hundreds of people are hospitalized to treat the often severe burns.
Yet, some medical experts say these burns are so easily preventable, with just a simple adjustment to one device in your home. Suggestions that legislation, to force homeowners to make this simple change, may be what's needed to prevent most of these scalds from happening.
Dr. Dirk Huyer is one of many doctors who see the effects of serious water burns, and the usual victims are young children. Dr. Huyer says "I don't think that the majority of people understand how quickly someone can be seriously burned. Sonya Corkum from Sick Children's Hospital and Safe Kids Canada says "We've done a good job to promote that children shouldn't play with matches, but I don't think we've promoted the importance of keeping children away from hot water." These experts have launched a campaign to warn about the dangers of hot tap water.
"Most of these burn injuries, doctors say, are quite preventable. And the easiest and most effective way is to turn down the heat on your home hot water heater."
Turning down the temperature on home hot water heaters is the law in some U.S. areas. The state of Washington requires hot water heaters in new homes to be set lower, instead of the usual 60 degrees Celsius or 140 degrees Fahrenheit, to a lower and safer limit of 49 degrees Celsius, or 120 degrees Fahrenheit. And since that law was passed, it has led to a major drop in hot water burns.
This kind of law is a measure some doctors think Canadian authorities should consider. Huyer says, "If it was a uniform reduction, all of the burns would be prevented in my mind, because it would take 9 minutes to cause a severed burn from hot tap water.
Legislation or not, homeowners can voluntarily drop their hot water temperature to 49 degrees Celsius, and confirm that their hot water is at a safe level by measuring it. It's a simple move that may prevent a lifetime of injury.
"Preventing Hot Water Scalds" courtesy Avis Favaro. This report was previously aired on CTV News. Avis Favaro is a medical reporter for CTV News.
