Shopping Cart Dangers

One of the most horrifying calls I ever had as an EMT involved a two year old boy who had fallen 3 feet from a shopping cart, landing head first onto the concrete floor below. The child’s injuries were horrific and he is not expected to ever make a full recovery.

I feel compelled to write this article to help parents get educated on the potential dangers of children who ride shopping carts. The following facts are from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission:

· An annual average of 21,600 children 5 years old and younger were treated in US hospital emergency rooms for shopping cart injuries during the years 1985-1996

· A detailed analysis of the incidents during 1995 and 1996 showed that 66 percent of the fall victims were treated for head injuries (11,000 per year).

The ONLY safe place for a child in a shopping cart is in the child seat, properly secured with the buckle. A visit to any local supermarket will reveal 2, 3 even 4 children standing in the back of the cart, hanging off the side, even lying down on the cargo area under the cart. I routinely witness young children climbing, jumping and swinging on carts, often with no parent in sight.

A quick lesson in physics: An object that weighs 30 pounds (your child), that falls 3 feet (distance from shopping cart to ground), will hit the ground with 475 pounds of force. Or to put it another way, it would be the same as hitting the child over the head with 15 cinderblocks. This makes it abundantly clear that shopping cart safety is no laughing matter. I understand it is difficult to control 3-4 children when shopping, however other solutions must be explored. Not a day passes without some story about someone dying in a tragic accident. With so much in this world out of our control, let’s control the things that we can. Keep our children safe

One last note – if you have your child in an infant carrier, and must put him in the shopping cart, DO NOT place the car seat on top. Place the car seat securely inside the cart. The seat is not strapped in and with its high center of gravity, can fall off the cart with even the slightest jolt.