Before You Take the Kids Out Sledding, Read This

If it's a snow day where you live, your kids are probably begging you to go out sledding right this very second. We get it — it's fun! But the danger can be very real, as a Long Island family learned after the tragic loss of their 17-year-old son in a snow-tubing accident last night. While such severe incidents are thankfully not a regular occurrence, the American Academy of Pediatrics reports that 20,000 kids per year are sent to the emergency room because of sledding-related injuries. Here are a few basic tips from the Maria Fareri Children's Hospital at Westchester Medical Center to keep those kiddos safe during their Winter weather adventures:

• Keep sledders away from motor vehicles.
• Children should be supervised while sledding.
• Keep young children separated from older children.
• Sledding feet first or sitting up, instead of lying down head first, may prevent head injuries.
• Consider having your child wear a helmet while sledding.
• Use steerable sleds, not snow discs or inner tubes.
• Avoid sledding in crowded areas.
• Sleds should be structurally sound and free of sharp edges and splinters, and the steering mechanism should be well lubricated.
• Sled slopes should be free of obstructions like trees or fences; be covered in snow, not ice; have a slope of less than 30º, not steeper; and end with a flat runoff.