Hot Water Can Burn a Baby in One Second
I felt compelled to write this month about a case I worked on and settled this past year in hopes that you can prevent a disaster in your home.In 2005, I received a call from a distraught parent, who's baby girl, (18 months old) was badly burned in a hotel bathtub from scalding water. Without going into too much detail, the adorable baby girl was under the faucet of a bathtub and her older brother (3) accidently turned the cold knob off. The water came out so hot it burned the skin off the little girl's legs and feet. The mother called 911 and life flight took the little baby girl to the hospital. She stayed in intensive care for over two weeks and eventually received over 7 surgeries. Her life will never be the same.
As it turns out, the hotel where the little girl was staying, had a hot water heater set well above the industry standard. The tests my law firm conducted showed temperatures reaching above 190 degrees! As you know, boiling is at 212 degrees! After two years of litigation, a confidential settlement was reached.
I tell you this story so that you can make sure the hot water heater in your home is set at a safe temperature. A lot of you have infants and children in your home and I know every parent wants to protect their children from harm. Here are some helpful tips:
- Check the temperature setting on your hot water heater regularly and never set it above the standard and recommended temperature settings. Hot water should really never reach above 110 degrees with children in the home.
- When you are away from home, check to see how hot the water seems to get before allowing children to bathe. If you feel it is too hot, do not allow your children to bath without your supervision.
- Always remain with your infant when bathing. Never leave a baby unattended in any bath.
- Remember to keep pots of boiling water to the back burners so that children can't reach them.
- Teach older siblings about hot water safety.
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