School holidays see ACC claims jump

Rotorua Lakes Council safe community project co-ordinator Chris Webber said regular safety messages should be kept in mind in the Christmas break. Image / Getty Images

More than 4000 new accident claims for injuries to Rotorua school-aged children have been made during school holidays since April 2012.

Up to the end of this year's July holidays, the claims had cost ACC more than $1.5 million.

Rotorua Lakes Council safe community project co-ordinator Chris Webber said regular safety messages should be kept in mind in the Christmas break.

"Safekids is running a giveaway promotion reminding us to check around cars before reversing, while Plunket continues with car seat safety programmes. Rotorua Aquatic Centre continues to show great results from those learning to swim ...

"We just all need to get in behind it as a community and keep the ideas and support coming."

Rotorua was recently redesignated as an international safe community, prompting more co-ordinated approaches to improving safety for the community, Mr Webber said.

Nationally, more than 200,000 new claims were laid with ACC for school-aged children during school holiday periods between April 2012 and the end of the July holidays this year. The claims cost ACC more than $69million. About 13,000 claims were made during term breaks, while an average of 28,000 claims were made during summer breaks.

Injuries often occurred in the lead up to Christmas when parents were stressed and not necessarily watching their children as much as they normally would, Safekids Aotearoa director Ann Weaver said. Injuries also happened at barbecues and other summer get-to-gethers when no adults in particular were watching children.

"Absolutely let kids run around and have fun but it's a good idea to have at least one designated adult keeping an eye on what the kids are up to."

Parents needed to think about what else was involved when buying Christmas presents, she said. Trampolines, for example, needed to meet standards, be placed on soft ground and away from tree branches, and have rules, such as only one child jumping on at a time.

"Trampolines are a big cause of falls for 5 to 14-year-olds. Wheel objects such as bikes and scooters are also the cause of a lot of falls. If you're buying a bike, make sure you can also afford a helmet, or get grandma and grandpa or someone else to get the helmet because they considerably reduce the likelihood of serious brain injury when they fall off."