Tampa Bay Times from St. Petersburg, Florida • 99

HOMES GARDENS URBANENVIRONMENT REAL ESTATE Accent on home safety, hurricane preparedness section MAY 30. 1976 Is yoyir home accident prone? Fida! flooding map and routes, 6 and 7-F Hurri I'M? cane tracking char" By VALERIE WICKSTROM St. Plribury Tlltm Stiff Wrltw Mary S. is in a hip cast. Waking up one warm April evening she was walking to the kitchen for a glass of water when she "forgot" about the sunken living room, stepped into the air, lost her balance, fell and fractured her leg in three places.

Tony, 3, had his arm sling taken off last week. A tumble from his bottom bunk bed was enough to break a collar bone. Martin F. will golf again, but his attire may include long sleeves. Martin fell asleep while smoking and the flames that destroyed his bedding singed the hair off his arms and left second -degree burns.

Lisa Marie is home from the hospital after having her stomach pumped. A jar of gasoline in the carport "looked like juice," said Lisa, 5, and she swallowed almost half a cup before being rescued by her father. Mary, Tony, Martin and Lisa are statistics in U.S. medical association and federal government reports that show that more accidents occur at home each year than in any other place, and that accidents are the major cause of death in persons ages one to 38. ACCIDENTS FOLLOW heart disease, cancer and strokes as top killers nationwide.

Home accidents like falls and drownings closely follow motor vehicle accidents in claiming lives. AT LEAST 4.2-million persons annually suffer disabling injuries, 100,000 of which are permanently disabling. Another 27,500 Americans die in home accidents every year. The Consumer Public Safety Commission reports that the most common types of home accidents are: Falls The largest single cause of home accidents, falls, account for half of all deaths. In 1975 about 9,000 Americans died as the result of falls.

Falls are particularly injurious to the young, whose soft heads are susceptible to injury, and to the old, whose brittle bones break easily and often take longer to heal. Falls are the major cause of accidental death in persons aged 65 and over. Burns Children from ages one to 14 and adults from ages 45 to 64 are likely victims of fatal burns. Smoking in bed is the major cause of these accidental deaths. Last year more than 5,000 persons died as the result of fires, which also can be caused by careless handling of smoking material, stoves, overloaded electrical outlets, frayed wires, candles, children playing with matches.

Poisons Although the toddler is the typical victim, most poison victims are between the ages of 15 and 47. This third major cause of home fatalities claims more than 4,000 lives annually; most adult victims mix drugs, solid or liquid, or breathe poisonous gases. Children are more likely to swallow lethal household products. (See story, 10-F). Suffocation The fourth major accidental killer usually claims victims one year old or younger.

Often a youngster swallows a large chunk of food, a small toy or other object that lodges in the throat and blocks the windpipe. Infants suffocate in plastic bags or their own clothes; older children may become trapped in refrigerators. About 3,000 suffocation deaths occurred in 1975. Almost 1,500 firearm deaths were reported in 1975; another 3,200 accidental deaths were reported, including drownings, electrocutions, accidents with lawnmowers and falling objects. Deaths and serious injury can be prevented if victims are treated quickly and professionally, but preventive accident medicine continues to be the best.

To prevent falls, keep floors and stairways clear of toys and other objects; remind houseguests of the location of steps; keep loose stairs or railings in repair; don't use chairs as ladders; put adhesive grid appliques or mats in slippery tubs and showers, tack down loose rugs. NOT ONLY FLAMES, but also liquids are a major cause of burns. Severe injuries can be prevented by teaching correct use of matches and gas; keeping pots on the back burners of stoves with handles always inwards; prohibiting smoking in bed; using safety covers on unused electrical outlets; storing matches and lighters out of children's reach. Poisonings can be prevented if chemical household products are kept out of the reach of children and if adults carefully follow directions with prescription drugs. (See POISONS, 10-F).

Mobile home safety, 2-F Burglar-proofing your home before vacations, 3-F How to prepare your home against a storm, 5-F Poisoning precautions and first aid. 10-F Pinellas officials have plans to cope with hurricane threat, 13-F Protecting your boat from storm damage, I5-F St. Petersburg Times SCOTT WEST AND means not using frayed cords on lights or appliances until they are repaired or replaced. Don't use electric appliances, such as curling irons or blow driers, while in the tub and don't allow electric appliances near the home swimming pool: water and electricity is a deadly combination. Stop children from poking objects into electric wall sockets.

Discourage family members from taking showers or baths during electric storms. Appliances that "sputter" or cause any shock should be checked. See SAFETY, 5-F them up. American Public Health Association reports show that 70 per cent of all firearm victims last year were killed by relatives, acquaintances or themselves, and that many of these killings were committed with weapons found in the home where the death occurred. Infants should never be left unattended whether they are in a bathtub or a sink.

A baby can drown in just three inches of standing water. PREVENTING electrical accidents in the home Keep plastic bags out of the reach of children and cut their food into small portions to prevent suffocation. Work in well-ventilated areas when using gasoline, ammonia, paint or other toxic materials. Never keep loaded firearms in the house. Unloaded firearms should be kept in a locked, out-of-the-way cabinet and ammunition should be stored in another location.

Don't allow children to play with firearms; teenagers should be taught to carefully load, clean, unload and lock grace -A Hurricanes: Awesome acts of nature, needed in the scheme of things, but warranting respect Ha i ti-'ik I II ks imy i 1 4 x- mmn mm usi By DICK BOTHWELL St. Petersburg Timei Staff Writer against tropical disturbances and hurricanes." Dr. Neil Frank, director of Miami's National Hurricane Center, made another point. "Eloise," he said, "certainly destroyed the philosophies of many of the wise men who live in the Panhandle of Florida. We had a lot of people in the Panama City area who felt they were immune to hurricanes.

Over 122,000 people lived in or around Panama City and not one of them had experienced a bad hurricane in this centruy." His concern is understandable. Population growth in Florida has brought heavy increases in coastal areas 60,000 people are now crowded on to -the vulnerable Florida Keys, 20,000 of them in mobile homes, for example. The heavily-built up Tampa Bay area has been rated most vulnerable in the nation. As in Panama City, desire to be close to the water has overruled caution in many, many cases. "I don't really mind your going down and building on the beachfront, and doing it rather poorly, if that's your desire and you're willing to take the risk and the loss," said Frank.

"My primary concern is that you get out when we put the warnings up and don't stay there and try to protect yourself." WAITING UNTIL the last minute has killed a good many foolish people who failed to realize that nature's greatest storm can send winds and heavy rains hundreds of miles in advance of the main punch; elements which seal off avenues of escape such as low-lying roads and bridges. "How soon we forget! Last September Hurricane Eloise was big news and now it's ancient history. No sooner had the wind calmed down than developers were on the scene planning to replace structures that had been destroyed. City officials outside Panama City breathed a sigh of relief and turned to other matters." So said Dr. Morton Smutz, director of the University of Florida's coastal and oceanographic engineering laboratory, at a hurricane seminar held in Gainesville last March.

UNFORTUNATELY, what he said was only too true; out of sight, out of the news. Eloise, the first major storm to hit Florida's Panhandle in 40 years, was the first of its intensity (about 3 on a scale of 1 to 5) to clobber Panama City since the turn of the century. On Sept. 23, 1975, it swept in from the Gulf of Mexico with torrential rains, 140 mile per hour winds and 16-foot tides to devastate the Northwest Florida coast, from Fort Walton Beach to Panama City. Rated "average," not a monster like Hurrican Donna or Camille, Eloise did heavy property damage in the Panama City area because many structures were built too near the water, and poorly built into the bargain.

Erosion of dunes and beach had reduced the natural barrier to storm surge. "MANY FLORIDIANS," Smutz commented, "fail to understand the importance of good beaches as a first-line defense St. Prburg Tiimi FRED VICTORIN A sample of the destruction caused in Florida's Panhandle by Eloise in 1975. What is a hurricane, anyway? An evil spirit named Hurakan which destroyed everything in iU path, thought the aboriginal Arawaken tribe Columbus found on the Greater Antilles. A tropical cyclone, says the less superstitious U.S.

Department of Commerce, in which winds reach speeds of 74 miles per hour or more, and blow in a large spiral around a relatively calm center called the eye. Although the "official" Atlantic hurricane sea son is the six-months period June through November, these tropical storms can and do pop up most any month. But most occur in August, September and October. Six Atlantic hurricanes occur each year on the average. But there are deviations, of course.

In 1916 and 1950, 11 hurricanes were observed. No hurricanes at all showed up in 1907 and 1914. While in 1893, 1950 and 1961 storm seasons, four hurricanes were in progress at one time! Many lesser storms also whip the Peninsular State each year; which brings up the question of definition. Many a visitor has written home somewhat colorful details about being "in" a hurricane. But the fact is that millions of coastal residents and visitors don't know what they're talking about when it comes to a real ordeal by storm.

"Even in the most severe hurricanes," said Frank, "devastation seldom spreads over more than 50 miles of coastline. See HURRICANES. 9-F.