STATISTICS YOU SHOULD KNOW!

As reported in the Consumer Product Safety Commissions (CPSC) special study published April 2001 of playground equipment-related injuries treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms from November 1998 through October 1999 and playground-related deaths from January 1990 through August 2000 an estimated 205,850 playground equipment-related injuries were treated and 147 deaths to children younger than age 15 were reported.

Approximately 156,040 of the 1999 injuries occurred on equipment designed for public use, about 45 percent of the injuries involving public equipment occurred in schools, 31 percent in public parks, 10 percent in commercial daycare settings with the following 14 percent occurring at apartment complexes, fast food restaurants and other locations.

Overall, about 79 percent (three-fourths) of the injuries that occurred on public equipment involved falls, primarily to the surface below the equipment and in comparison to the data from the current study to the data from the 1988 CPSC study of playground hazards it was revealed that falls continue to account for the majority of injuries reported.

FALLS

PUBLIC EQUIPMENT
Of the 79% of injuries that involved falls on public equipment specifically, 68% involved falls to the surface below the equipment, 10% involved falls to other parts of the same equipment and 1% involved falls to unidentified surfaces.

On public equipment, 17% of the injuries involving falls to the surface occurred from heights of 30 inches (2 ½ feet) or less, 47% occurred from heights of 48 inches (4 feet) or less, and 78% from heights of 72 inches (6 feet) or less. Virtually all (99.6%) of the injuries involved with falls to the surface occurred from distances of less than 10 feet.

HOME EQUIPMENT
Falls were associated with 81% of the injuries with home playground equipment. Specifically, 69% involved falls to the surface below the equipment, 10% involved falls to other parts of the same equipment, and 2% involved falls to an unknown surface. Almost all (98.7%) of the injuries involving falls to the surface occurred from distances of less than 7 feet.

DEATHS

In recent years, the Commission has purchased death certificates reporting falls from only one or two states (with the exception of 1991). Thus, deaths due to falls are under-reported in the Commissions data. Nevertheless, CPSC has received reports of 31 playground fall deaths since 1990. About three-fourths of these deaths involved a head injury. Swings, slides, and climbers were the primary types of equipment involved in fall deaths.

The fatal incidents were analyzed by hazard pattern rather than type of equipment, since the specific type of equipment involved was not always identified. The top three hazard patterns associated with the 147 deaths were hanging (82 deaths), falls (31 deaths), tip-overs or collapses (24 deaths), other hazards reported included entrapment, impact, and aspiration (8 deaths), and in 2 cases the information involved in the deaths were not available.

CASE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN A FEW OF THE INCIDENTS:

SWINGS

CASE 1: The child did a back flip off of a swing and landed on their head.
CASE 2: The child was seated on a swing that unhooked causing them to fall and sustain a closed head injury.
CASE 3: The child stood up on the swing and lost their balance, falling and striking their head on asphalt.

CLIMBERS

For most of the deaths involving climber, there were reports of the fall being caused by slipping or losing grip on components of the climber.

OTHER

CASE 1: The 13 year-old teenager was lying in a ball pit and other teenagers went down the slide landing on top of him.
CASE 2: A child died from aspiration of gravel from a school playground.

Nebraska Rubber Innovations, Inc. feels that when even one child becomes a statistic, it is one child too many-And we are sure you feel the same way! So don't wait, contact us for more information on a surface for your playground area that has one of the best shock absorbing test results available. TAKE THE FIRST STEP TO PREVENT EVEN ONE OF THE CHILDREN WHO PLAY ON YOUR PLAYGROUND FROM BECOMING THAT ONE STATISTIC!

This whole report and other vital playground safety materials can be viewed on the CPSC web site at the following address: http://www.cpsc.gov

We are the first playground mat manufacturer to use the combination of a loose crumb rubber base beneath our matting and truly believe that it offers the best fall height protection for children at one of the best prices on the market. Call us or e-mail us today for a FREE estimate on your playground surfacing needs.

Our sales force would be pleased to talk with you, and work with you on your project needs. Call 866-336-1424 and ask for Larry or Cindy. You may also contact us through e-mail at nri@elkhorn.net. We will respond to your e-mail within one working day. If in the event that we do not respond within 4 days, please do not hesitate to give us a call! Thank you!