Medical center doctors urge caution with lawnmowers

It’s a sure sign the seasons have changed. The scraping sound of snow shovels is replaced with the drone of lawnmower engines.

According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, lawnmowers are involved in 200,000 serious injuries each year in the United States. Sixteen thousand of those injuries involve children.

Jack Williamson of Bellevue was almost seven last May when he became one of those injured children. Like so many boys his age, he liked to “help” his dad do the yard work with his toy lawnmower.

Mowing safely The American Society of Plastic Surgeons recommends the following guidelines for children and lawnmowers: Children should be 12-years-old before they operate any lawn mower, and 16-years-old for a ride-on mower. Children should never be passengers on ride-on mowers. Pick up stones, toys and debris from the lawn to prevent injuries from flying objects.

“He would walk a safe distance behind, pushing his toy mower,” Jack’s mom Michelle Williamson said. “When his dad turned off the mower and went to help another child, Jack walked toward the mower. He tripped and his hand touched the mower’s engine.”

Jack had first and second degree burns on his hand.

“Even a quick touch can burn a child’s sensitive skin,” said Debra Reilly, M.D., associate professor of surgery at UNMC and medical director of the burn center at The Nebraska Medical Center.

Fortunately, Jack was treated quickly and he has made a full recovery.

Orthopaedic surgeons also are familiar with injuries that happen in the yard.

“In adults, the injuries tend to be the loss of part of a finger or toe,” said Anthony Lauder, M.D., assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery at UNMC and an orthopaedic surgeon at The Nebraska Medical Center. “The worst injuries are in children. Most of these occur when children are running around the yard and someone is driving a riding mower. Often, the child runs up to the mower and the person driving cannot hear them.”