DEATH TOLL: Summer isn’t all fun. Despite...

DEATH TOLL: Summer isn’t all fun. Despite widespread safety campaigns, 10 children drowned in Orange County pools and spas last summer, more than in the entire previous year. . . . So what’s going wrong? The less obvious things, says the local American Red Cross. Like pool covers only partially removed that trap children underneath. Or ringing telephones that call parents away. Or parties where all the adults think someone else is watching. . . . “It’s usually not gross negligence, just something simple,” says a Red Cross spokeswoman. “The child reaches for a ball in the water, falls in without a splash and that’s it.”

PICNIC SURPRISE: Fried chicken and potato salad in the park can be a summer’s delight, but sometimes it’s followed by a stop at the emergency room. . . . Food poisoning happens regularly in hot weather, says Bob Merryman of the county’s Health Care Agency, because people skimp on ice in the picnic cooler. It must remain below 45 degrees in there, so load it up with ice and keep the lid closed, he says. A tip: Put drinks in a second cooler. Opening it often will do no harm.

FULLY COVERED: Your child’s T-shirt may not be sufficient sun protection. The typical T-shirt protects no better than sun block rated 6 to 10, and when wet its protection falls to 3, says Pat Putnam. His Irvine mail-order firm is providing Children’s Hospital of Orange County with T-shirts and caps of specially woven nylon with a sun-block rating above 30, even when wet. The shirts ($27) and caps ($17) will be sold at the hospital gift shop starting next month.

SAFE AT HOME? That gun kept in the house becomes one of the major threats to children when summer rolls around. According to the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence, far more children are accidentally shot during the summer than in any other season, mainly because they have more free time to search the house. . . . Orange County sheriff’s Lt. Tom Garner says deputies are trained to lock up their guns at home. Anyone who doesn’t is risking prison time if a child is accidentally injured.