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Falls Are the Most Common Playground Injury
Playgrounds are great places for kids to meet new friends and expend some of their endless energy, but they are also places where kids get hurt sometimes. So what kind of injuries should you worry about, and what kind of first aid should you be ready to give when your child gets hurt?
Well, probably the most common injuries are due to falls. Kids run and trip or fall off of equipment all the time. Sometimes it's just a simple scrape that needs washing off and applying a Band-Aid. Sometimes there are cuts, and if they are deep enough, you'll need to take your kid from the playground and find a nearby urgent care so that the cut can be cleaned out and see if they need stitches.
Fractures and Broken Bones
If the fall is from a height, your child may land on an outstretched arm. That's called a FOOSH, a fall on an outstretched arm, and that also needs to be seen pretty quickly, especially if they're in a lot of pain. The most common injury with a FOOSH is a forearm fracture, specifically a distal radial or ulnar fracture, or sometimes both bones get broken.
If the skin looks like it's got something poking out of it, or the bone looks abnormal, like when my kid fell out of a tree and landed wrong, that is not a trip to the pediatrician or the urgent care. That is straight to a pediatric emergency room. In those cases, an orthopedic surgeon may need to get involved for really bad breaks, or they may need to reset the fracture under anesthesia.
Head Injuries and Concussions
What if it's your child's head that is hit, not an arm or a leg? Then you need to worry about a concussion. Luckily, kids are pretty resilient, and skull fractures are less common. But concussions and big goose egg hematomas do happen. You should make sure your child didn't knock themselves out, make sure they are not disoriented, and make sure they're not vomiting. Those three things are big red flags for a worse head injury that may require imaging in a pediatric emergency room. If there's a big goose egg hematoma, put ice on it right away.
The scalp has a lot of blood vessels, so bleeding can seem excessive. If the bleeding stops pretty quickly when you put pressure on it, like within 10 minutes, then you're good. But if it doesn't, again, a trip to the ER.
Other Playground Injuries
- Kids can get splinters if there are wooden structures, and those can be handled at urgent care if you can't get the splinters out yourself.
- If your child gets a burn from hot equipment, cool compresses will help, and seek medical care if the burns start to blister.
- If they get rocks or dirt up their nose, then you need to rinse out their nose, and if there is stuff too far up, they may need to be seen at the ER for the ear, nose, and throat team to put a camera up your child's nose and see just how far things went.
Keeping Kids Safe While They Play
Most importantly, be vigilant. Keep an eye on your kids. Teach them positive socialization skills and how to be cautious but still have fun when playing with others.
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