Common Children’s Playground Injuries and How They Can be Avoided
There is a lot of research that has been completed on what causes injuries in the playground, but no-one had gone through the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) database before, until now that is.
A study has been completed by the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Indiana School of Medicine, Indiana University, where injury data from 2002 – 2004 from slides, monkey bars and swings were analyzed.
They found that 22728 emergency visits to the hospital were recorded in the NEISS database, and 83.9% of these injuries were caused by swings, slides and monkey bars.
The five most common types of injuries sustained were:
* Fractures (39.3%)
* Abrasions and contusions (20.6%)
* Lacerations (16.6%)
* Sprains and Strains (9.9%)
* Traumatic Brain Injuries (8.5%)
When you think of playground injuries occurring, you probably think that these injuries happen away from home. The majority of injuries happen at school (38.9%) and recreational and sporting facilities (35.5%), but more than a quarter (25.6%) of these injuries occur at home.
You can read more finding on the research here – NEISS Playground Injury research, but for now let’s look at how we can reduce these playground injuries.
One major problematic area is the playground surfacing, whether at home, school, or recreational facility; it should be a softer surface than concrete. Rubber mulch, as a playground surface is proving very popular and making lots of playgrounds safer. It provides a soft landing, which helps prevent the strains, sprains, factures and traumatic brain injuries.
Another area of improvement could be adult supervision. Teachers should keep an eye on children playing on equipment at school and parents should be as vigilant as they can be at recreational areas and at home. Especially at home, as people seem to think it won’t happen to them or their child, so they let their children play unsupervised, and this is where some accidents can happen. You can also undertake some simple playground safety checks to make sure where your child plays is as safe as it can be.
Lastly the children themselves should be taught how to play safely on playground equipment and not to put themselves or others at risk.
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