Lawn Mower Injuries Can Be Horrific-Here's How To Avoid Them

In my 11 years of practice, I have too often seen the devastating results of lawn mower accidents. It seems that every summer the scenarios leading to these injuries are the same:

• A father and young son are sharing their weekly ritual of mowing the lawn together when the child falls off his lap and under the mower. 
• A grandfather doesn’t see his granddaughter running out of the house to greet him and accidentally backs the mower over her.
• The entrepreneurial teenager from down the street who mows with his iPod is too distracted to notice that kids are playing in his path.

Earlier:

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, almost 17,000 children were victims of lawn mower accidents in 2010—up three percent from the previous year.

Most often, I see children between the ages of two and seven, and the injuries they suffer as a result of these accidents are pretty traumatic.  It is not uncommon to see significant damage to the lower extremities from the feet to the thighs, including broken and dislocated bones, missing toes and deep muscle cuts.

Treatment can include many painful procedures to clean and treat wounds. Severe wounds may require skin grafts. And in some cases, we are forced to amputate toes, portions of the feet or limbs.

After their initial recovery, children may have to undergo physical therapy to re-establish function of their feet and legs, especially in cases where amputations have been performed. Long-term dressing and bandage changing is often needed after they return home. Then there are the psychological wounds suffered by young patients and their families as a result of the accidents.

As a major referral center, Advocate Lutheran General Hospital has a very knowledgeable team of specialists with the expertise to address these types of injuries. We treat many young patients immediately after an accident or following an evaluation at another hospital. However, our ability to handle these injuries certainly does not minimize their impact.

I strongly recommend the following tips to prevent lawn mower injuries:

• Children younger than 12 should not operate any lawn mower. Children should be at least 16 years old to operate a riding mower.
• Under no circumstances should a child be a passenger on riding mowers.
• Wear closed-toed shoes when mowing.
• Always make sure that young children are a safe distance away from the area being mowed.
• Pick up stones, toys and debris from the lawn to prevent injuries from flying objects.
• Use a mower with a control that stops it from moving forward if the handle is released.
• Do not move or mow in reverse without carefully looking behind you for children or objects.
• Wear eye and hearing protection while mowing.
• Treat a lawn mower like any other moving vehicle and follow the “rules of the road” when operating.