A new survey shows four children have been badly injured by lawnmowers in last 6 weeks. A telephone survey taken in the Leinster region from the Irish Association of Plastic Surgeons (IAPS) shows its members have treated four children with severe injuries attributed directly to them playing on or near lawnmowers.
The organisation is warning parents to ensure their children's safety when mowing the lawn.
Dr. Patricia Eadie, President of the IAPS, said "Lock up your children. That should be the first thing anyone does before starting the lawnmower or have a second adult to supervise them".
"In the last six weeks I, and colleagues, have seen two children with horrific foot injuries where their feet went under a powered lawnmower in their homes. This resulted in both patients losing most of their toes and a lot of their foot. We also had two other children with severe hand injuries, one who lost all the digits on one hand and the second, the majority of all their digits".
Dr. Eadie added "Adults could take on board the same advice that they should be giving to their children in relation to lawnmowers because IAPS members have also had to treat three adults with severe hand injuries in the same short period".
They advise anyone who loses digits in this way is to place any severed digits into a plastic bag, place the bag into a container of ice, and get to an emergency room as quickly as possible."
