

Glossary - Safety and Injury Prevention



ANSI - American National Standards Institute, an organization that evaluates and approves personal protection equipment, such as bicycle helmets.

ASTM - American Society for Testing and Materials, an organization that evaluates and approves the materials used to make things like helmets.

Air bags - safety devices installed in newer vehicles that inflate to protect the driver and/or passenger in certain collisions.

Asphyxiation - a medical term for suffocation, which leads to lack of oxygen in the blood.




Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) - the use of breathing and chest compressions to help save a person's life.

Chemical burns - burns due to strong acids or alkaloids coming into contact with the skin and/or eyes.


Convertible safety seat - a child safety seat that can be a rear-facing infant seat at first, and then turned around to become a forward-facing, upright child safety seat for small children.



Electrical burns - burns caused by contact with an electrical current.




Hyperthermia - a high body temperature that can cause heat stroke.


Infant safety seat - smaller child safety seats that are rear-facing in vehicles, especially designed for infants up to age 1 and 20 pounds.














Scald burn - a skin burn that results from contact with a hot liquid, food, or other item.

Smoke alarms - devices that operate on batteries or electricity which can detect smoke from a fire within the home. A smoke alarm will begin to beep to alert people within the home that there is smoke.


Tether anchors - a standardized child safety seat system that uses special anchors in newer vehicles' seats, combined with tethers on the child safety seat, to secure a child safety seat tightly.



Ultraviolet radiation (UV) - invisible rays that come from the sun. UV radiation can damage the skin and cause melanoma and other types of skin cancer. UV rays are also produced by tanning beds and lamps and can damage the skin.

Underwriter's laboratories (UL) - most electrical appliances are approved by UL.






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