Hug~A~Mug~A
There is nothing like a hot steaming cup of coffee or hot chocolate on a cold January day, to let warmth and comfort in. Keeping hot beverages from injuring yourself or others around you is important and easy enough to do. Hot beverages are usually served at temperatures greater than 71 degrees Celsius, which can cause third degree burns on contact with skin.
Did you know that more than half of scalds (62.7 percent) associated with hot beverages were sustained by children less than 2 years of age? Most injuries occur at home during supper time (between the hours of 4 and
8 p.m.
) and the body part most commonly injured was the chest, according to data from the Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program (1996).
Keep hot beverages away from young children. Make sure that when you are sipping your favourite mug of hot tea that you do not take a youngster onto your lap. Children move unexpectedly and injuries are extremely painful and not worth the risk.
Keep electric kettle cords and other cords far away from the edge of the kitchen counter where children might get a hold of them. Beware also of hot drinks on table clothes that can be pulled accidentally by children or even adults.
Children can enjoy a mug of steaming warm drink as well. Don’t overfill the mug and keep the temperature far below the level of heat that an adult enjoys and have them sitting at the table to lessen the possibility of spills and injury.
