While a trip to the playground is a go-to activity for families, around 40,000 children per year in the UK sustain injuries in playgrounds serious enough for a hospital visit. According to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, 80 per cent of these accidents are caused by falls, with broken bones – mainly in the arms and wrists – making up most of the cases. But there are other preventable, common injuries that surgeons wish parents would be more careful about, too.
Here, Dr Jonathan Wright, a paediatric orthopaedic and limb reconstruction surgeon at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust and HCA UK’s The Portland Hospital, who has been a surgeon for 16 years, explains the errors he sees most that parents make, which can result in their child sustaining a serious injury.
Putting small kids on a zip wire
Zip wires aren’t designed for all sizes of children. They can get up to impressive speeds, and the grip strength of a small child may not be enough to keep them on at the end where they hit the tyre. If they fly off, the child usually lands with an outstretched hand, so it can result in a broken wrist, forearm, or a break above the elbow.
Shorts
