Unsafe Playgrounds
1 Committee on Accident and Poison Prevention
Pediatricians generally may not be aware that playgrounds and playground equipment present an unsuspected hazard to children. Swings, slides, and playground equipment are ranked fifth in the Consumer Product Hazard Index based on data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) of the Consumer Product Safety Commision (CPSC), with an Age Adjusted Frequency-Severity Index of 12,498,000 for 1976 to 1977.1 Last year the CPSC's NEISS estimated that 167,000 persons were administered hospital emergency room treatment on a nationwide basis for injuries associated with public (75,000), home (41,000), and unspecified (51,000) playground equipment. The majority of those injured were between 5 and 10 years of age.
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