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Family Focus: Keeping your kids safe during outdoors playtime

Injuries are leading cause of death up to age 19.

TOLEDO, Ohio — Home is where we feel the safest, but it doesn't guarantee our kids won't get hurt.

As quarantine conditions ease and they venture outside more often, parents need to be focused on their kids' safety.

CDC officials say injuries are the number one cause of death for children from birth to 19 years old.

Leaders at Safe Kids Greater Toledo say we always need to keep their safety as a top priority, even if we are working from home and may get distracted.

Your kids might not be back to organized sports yet, but they are playing outside; maybe they're getting together with friends again to kick a soccer ball or shoot hoops.

But Safe Kids leaders say they need to wear protective gear to stop or lessen injuries. And that really goes for one of the most popular activities right now, bike riding.

"Bike helmets. I have mine right here. If you are out on your bike, make sure that everyone in the family is wearing a bike helmet and make sure that they're wearing it properly," Gina Veres of Safe Kids Greater Toledo said.

Credit: Safe Kids Greater Toledo

When asked how to convince kids, especially older ones, of the need to wear helmets, Veres said: "We can show them and tell them how even the professional bike riders have their helmets on. The professional skaters, a lot of time they wear helmets and it's because they know at some point they might fall off their bike. You never know what's going to happen."

Falls are still a leading cause of injury for children, whether they are inside or outside. And May is Trauma Awareness Month, because injuries rise as the weather gets nicer.

You can better protect your kids with a number of resources available on the Safe Kids Greater Toledo Facebook page.

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