National Playground Safety Week, raising parent awareness

Tribune Staff Report

Each year, more than 200,000 children in the United States are treated in emergency rooms for injuries involving playground equipment, and about 10 of those children die, according to a statement from Safe Kids Kansas.

Falls account for 80 percent of playground injuries; however, most playground fatalities are caused by strangulation and occur in a family's yard and not on public property, the statement said.

As National Playground Safety Week continues through Friday, the Safe Kids Kansas organization has joined the National Program for Playground Safety to urge parents and caregivers to help make sure children have safe places to play. "Nothing can take the place of active supervision, but we do need to make sure our kids are playing in safe environments in the first place," Safe Kids Kansas Coordinator Jan Stegelman said. "Playground equipment should be labeled with a minimum age, and it should be surrounded by a protective surface."

Grass and soil are not good playground surfaces, Stegelman said.

"The ground should be covered 12 inches deep with shredded rubber, hardwood fiber mulch, pea gravel or fine sand, extending at least six feet in all directions around the equipment," she said. "It won't prevent falls, but it can prevent injuries or reduce the severity."

Even non-fatal injuries from playground falls can be very serious, Stegelman said.

"A child who falls 10 feet is at risk of spinal cord injury, paralysis and death, and a child who falls about five feet is four times as likely to be injured as a child who falls from a lower height."

Parents and caregivers need to keep kids in sight and in reach on the playground, Stegelman said.

"Simply being in the same place as your child isn't necessarily supervising," she said. "Kids on a playground need your undivided attention."

Safe Kids Kansas reminds parents and caregivers to follow these safety tips: * Make sure playground equipment is inspected frequently and kept in good repair.

* Remove hood and neck drawstrings from children's clothing and outerwear, and do not allow kids to wear helmets, necklaces, purses or scarves on the playground.

* Do not allow children to engage in or play near playground equipment. Do not allow any pushing, shoving or crowding around the equipment.

* Keep toddlers under five years of age in a separate play area, fenced off from equipment designed for older kids.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission handbook on playground equipment and surfacing can be found on the Internet at www. cpsc. org, or by calling (800) 638-2772. For more information about playground safety, visit www.usa.safekids.org.

Safe Kids Kansas is a nonprofit coalition of 67 statewide organizations and businesses dedicated to preventing accidental injuries to Kansas children from birth to 14 years of age. The organization is a member of Safe Kids Worldwide, a global network of organizations whose mission is to prevent accidental childhood injury.

For more information about the organization, visit www.kansassafekids.org.