According to information compiled by Volunteer Firemen’s Insurance Services, Inc. (VFIS), each year more than 200,000 children go to U.S. hospital emergency rooms with injuries associated with playground equipment. Between 2001 and 2008, 40 deaths were associated with playground equipment and the average age was six years old, with the median age being four years old.
Learn the who, what, when, where, and how of playground injuries and learn how to keep your children and students safe.
Who
Between 2001 and 2008, 218,851 children between the ages of zero and 12 were treated in emergency rooms across the United States for injuries they received on playground equipment.
What
Here is a breakdown of the most common types of injuries:
- 36% fractures
- 20% contusions/abrasions
- 17% lacerations
- 12% strains/sprains
- 5% internal organs
- 3% other
- 2% concussions
When
The following are the top equipment pieces associated with playground injuries:
- 23% climbers
- 22% swings
- 17% slides
- 9% overhead ladders
Where
Here is a listing of locations where the injuries are occurring:
- 51% public playground equipment
- 19% home playground equipment
- 20% not recorded
- 1% other
How
This breakdown lists how injuries are occurring:
- 67% falls or equipment failure
- 8% hazards around but not related to equipment
- 7% collisions with other children or equipment
- 7% entrapments
Prevention Checklist:
- Make sure surfaces around playground equipment have at least 12 inches of wood chips, mulch, sand or pea gravel. Surfaces could also be mats made of safety-tested rubber or rubber-like materials.
- Check that protective surfacing extends at least six feet in all directions from play equipment. For swings, be sure surfacing extends, in back and front, twice the height of the suspending bar.
- Make sure play structures more than 30 inches high are spaced at least nine feet apart.
- Check for dangerous hardware, like open “S” hooks or protruding bolt ends.
- Make sure spaces that could trap children, such as openings in guardrails or between ladder rungs, measure less than three-and-a-half inches or more than nine inches.
- Check for sharp points or edges in equipment.
- Look out for tripping hazards like exposed concrete footings, tree stumps, and rocks.
- Make sure elevated surfaces, like platforms and ramps, have guardrails to prevent falls.
- Check playgrounds regularly to see that equipment and surfacing are in good condition.
Remember to carefully supervise children on playgrounds to make sure they remain injury free. For more information on ways to keep kids and families safe, visit www.escapeinc.org.
It’s happened 44 times. When you’re in the fire safety business like ESCAPE founder, firefighter and Certified National Fire Instructor Michael McLeieer is, you remember the number of times people have told you what they learned from you saved their life – or that of someone whom they know.
ESCAPE fire safety and education organization is marking its 20th anniversary spreading the word about fire safety. Many times, it’s children who are the target of the message.
Hear why McLeieer does what he does during an interview on WBCK radio by clicking the video below.
Read More: ESCAPE Marks 20 Years of Fire Safety |
According to the National Fire Protection Association, U.S. fire departments respond to approximately 5,690 fires at education buildings each year. These fires caused an annual 85 civilian injuries and $92 million in direct property damage. Almost a quarter of all school fires are started intentionally. Safety education and preparation should be a priority for every family and school official.
E.S.C.A.P.E. Fire Safety offers these tips to play it safe as children and adolescents return to school:
- Fire drills should be held at least once a month while school is in session (weather permitting).
- Principals, teachers or other school staff must inspect all exits daily to ensure that stairways, doors, and other exits are working properly and are unblocked.
- On the day of the drill, the emergency drill alarm should be sounded on the school fire alarm system. Make sure everyone can recognize the sound of the alarm and knows what to do when it sounds.
- Teachers, officials, and staff should be familiar with the school’s fire protection system, including the location of fire alarms pull stations and sprinklers.
- Every room in the school should have a map posted identifying two ways out. In schools with open floor plans, exit paths should be obvious and kept free of obstruction.
- On the day of the fire drill, everyone in the school should participate.
- Students with specific needs should be assigned an adult or a student buddy to assist them. Fire drills are a good opportunity to identify who among the student population requires extra assistance.
- While it’s important to make sure that students leave the building as quickly as possible, order is more important than speed when it comes to conducting a safe fire drill.
- Use the class rosters to ensure every student is accounted for.
- Fire drills should be held both at expected and at unexpected time, and under varying conditions in order to simulate the conditions that can occur in an actual emergency.
- School fire drills are a model for students to use in their homes. Encourage students to practice their escape plans at home – just as they do at school
If a student engages in firesetting or other negative high risk taking behavior, contact your local fire department or visit www.kidsandfire.org for a list of West Michigan Fire Department based Youth Firesetting Prevention and Intervention programs.
College Fire Safety
While the above tips focus mostly on elementary, middle and high schools, they can also apply to college buildings, where firefighters respond to about 3,810 fires each year – 88% of which are due to cooking mishaps. Here’s a college-level course in fire prevention:
On-campus precautions
- Cook only in designated areas
- Keep cooking areas clean and free of clutter
- Never leave cooking unattended
- In case of a fire inside a microwave, close the door and unplug the unit
Campus lab precautions
- Never leave lab experiments or pressure vessels unattended
- Keep flammable gases and chemicals away from heat
Off-campus precautions
- Be sure each bedroom has a working smoke alarm
- Make sure the building sprinkler system is well maintained
- Building heating and fire-prevention systems need to be checked annually by fire officials
General precautions
- Identify the two closest exits and all possible evacuation routes
- Know locations of fire alarms and how to use them
- Report vandalized fire equipment to campus security
Fire Prevention Week is recognized each October. However, fire safety should be practiced 365 days a year. Whether you’re at home, in the office or at school, safety should come first. Do your part to protect yourself and those around you Where You Live!
Join Jake The Fire Safety Dog and E.S.C.A.P.E. Fire Safety Tuesday, August 4th from 4pm to 8pm at Peppino’s South for National Night Out in Gaines Township.
For more information, visit:
https://www.facebook.com/events/788881381230557/