A seven-year-old child from Ciuciuleni village of Hancesti district crushed four fingers in an equipment by which his father prepared fodder for domestic animals. The child was admitted to the Chisinau Children’s Hospital “Valentin Ignatenco” where he will be operated.

The Hospital’s vice director Vitalie Mihalcean has told IPN that the child put his hand between the fan belt and the wheels of the machine, damaging thus his fingers. This will be operated, but only the first half of his fingers will be saved. The sectioned fingers will be blunted so that the left hand can be functional.

Vitalie Mihalcean said children from rural areas are mostly patients of the Hospital’s microsurgery ward. The previous patients included children aged even four or five who were allowed to prepare food for domestic animals at similar equipment. The patients from urban areas hurt themselves mainly when they used meat chopping machines unsupervised.

To avoid such situation, Vitalie Mihalcean recommends the adults to permanently monitor the children as this is the best method of avoiding home accidents and not to allow the children unsupervised near equipment that can endanger their lives and health. The children must be told about the existing dangers so that they realize the consequences of inattention and how these can be avoided.

More information about how to protect the child in different situations is available at the website www.parinti.md  that was launched within the REPEMOL (Regionalization of Pediatric Emergency and Intensive Care Services in Moldova) Project. During seven years, the project, in cooperation with the authorities, has informed the parents how to prevent home accidents involving children younger than five as part of the campaign “A danger-free home for your child”. The project is financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and is implemented by the Foundation “Center for Health Policies and Services” in Moldova.