Playground safety tips to beat summer time heat induced injuries

Kid’s Health reports that our bodies are cooled through the process of sweating and radiating heat thorough our skin. Unfavorable conditions in the summer months such as high temperatures, high humidity and hearty exercise can cause heat related illnesses. There are three injuries that occur when our bodies get too hot in the summer; they include heat cramps, heat exhaustion and heatstroke.

The Mayo Clinic’s website reports these three conditions build on each other to the eventual result of heatstroke. Recognizing the early stages of heat-induced illness can help you avoid a medical emergency.

Stage 1)
Heat cramps: “…painful, involuntary muscle spasms that usually occur during heavy exercise in hot environments. The spasms may be more intense and more prolonged than are typical nighttime leg cramps. Inadequate fluid intake often contributes to heat cramps”.
Kids Health’s website reports that children are especially prone to heat cramps when they haven’t been consuming enough fluids. As we loose salts and fluids we become susceptible to heat cramps because of the low levels of salts causes our muscles to cramp.
They go on to say that heat cramps are painful but are not serious. Kids Health also reports the remedy for heat cramps is to assist the affected person to a cool place to rest where they can increase their fluid intake. They also suggest massaging cramped muscles to alleviate the pain associated with the cramping.

Stage 2)
Heat exhaustion: “…is a condition whose symptoms may include heavy sweating and a rapid pulse, a result of your body overheating”. Kids Health reports this happens when someone has suffered heat cramps and does not get out of the heat to a cool location and who does not consume enough fluids. They also report that the following symptoms are signs of heat exhaustion. “Dehydration, fatigue, weakness, clammy skin, headache, nausea and/or vomiting, hyperventilation (rapid breathing) (and) irritability.”
Kids Health’s website lists first aid for heat exhaustion in the following steps. “Bring your children indoors or into the shade. Loosen or remove the child’s clothing. Encourage your child to eat and drink. Give your child a bath in cool (not cold) water. Call your doctor for further advice If your child is too exhausted or ill to eat or drink. At this point, intravenous (IV) fluids may be necessary.

Stage 3)
Heatstroke: “…is caused by prolonged exposure to high temperatures or by doing physical activity in hot weather. You are considered to have heatstroke when your body reaches 104 F (40 C) or higher”. They go on to say “High humidity, certain health problems and some medications increase your risk of heatstroke. So does being a young child or older adult.” Kids Health reports major factors in heat stroke in children are over dressing and extreme physical exertion during the summer months. They go on to say that if left unattended, heatstroke can become fatal.

Kids Health warns that heatstroke can happen if a child is left in or becomes trapped in a motor vehicle on a hot day. The internal temperature of your car can reach 125 degrees in 20 minutes. This would rapidly raise the body temperature of any child inside.

Kids Health says to call for emergency medical help if your child shows one or more of the following symptoms of heatstroke: flushed, hot, dry skin with no sweating; temperature of 105° F (40.6° C) or higher; severe, throbbing headache; weakness, dizziness, or confusion; sluggishness or fatigue; seizure; decreased responsiveness and loss of consciousness.
Kids Health says while you are waiting for emergency medical personnel to arrive you should do the following: get your child indoors or into the shade, undress your child and sponge or douse them with cool water and DO NOT give them fluids.

Preventing heat related illnesses

Kids Health reports that we should teach children to hydrate often when it is hot outside. They report to encourage children to drink fluids even if they are not thirsty. They also suggest dressing children in light colored and loose clothing when temperatures soar. It is best to have children participate in vigorous outdoor activities before noon and after 6:00 P.M. to avoid the heat of the day. Train children to immediately come indoors and out of the heat if they feel overheated.

Here at U.S. PlayZone, Inc, we believe in preventative medicine. Preventing a medical emergency is a lot easier than living through one. We hope all of our customers have a safe and fun summer season. We hope to see ya on the playground.

Residential Playground Safety Prevents Injuries and even Death.

Today while driving to estimate a residential homeowner’s playground, I saw the tallest residential playground structure I had ever seen.  The tallest deck on this particular piece of playground equipment was approximately 16 feet off the ground.  To my amazement, this homeowner had this structure on grass.  If a child fell to the ground from a height of 16 feet without the appropriate safety surfacing the outcome would be severe injury if not death.  Not only does this pose a risk to the family who has this structure in their backyard, this family is also liable for the safety of any other neighborhood children playing on the structure.  A preventable injury or childhood death is devastating, but if someone else’s child who is entrusted to your care is severely or is fatally injured due to improper safety surfacing this can be very costly to homeowners.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, 50,000 children visit hospital emergency rooms because of injuries sustained on residential playgrounds. 80% of these injuries result from falls from residential playground equipment. Children are also injured by moving objects on residential playgrounds such as swings.  Other playground injuries occur from sharp edges and protruding bolts on residential playground equipment.

In addition to the 50,000 children who are injured on residential playgrounds per year, several children die every year due to improper residential playground safety and maintenance.  The Outdoor Home Playground Safety Handbook (produced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission) states the following:

“These deaths often result when children get entangled in and strangle from ropes, cords, or leashes attached to play equipment, or when clothing drawstrings and items worn around children’s necks catch on the equipment. Others die when their heads or necks are trapped in narrow spaces, they fall from the equipment, or when they are struck by play equipment that moves or tips over.”

Children who play on your residential playground do not have be included in these grim statistics.  Residential playground equipment and playgrounds can be just as safe as the commercial playgrounds you find at schools and parks.  The Outdoor Home Playground Safety Handbook can help you plan, construct and maintain your residential playground to provide a safe play surface for the children who play in your backyard.

Many of our clients are intimidated by implementing The Outdoor Home Playground Safety Handbook principles on their own. U.S. PlayZone, Inc. works with residential home owners to plan, construct and maintain residential playgrounds throughout Northern Virginia, Maryland and Washington D.C.

There are no mandatory regulations or standars for residential playground equipment, but following the recommendations of The Outdoor Home Playground Safety Handbook can help you to easily prevent injuries to children on your property. Remember, one of the most important aspects of residential playground safety is supervision.  Never leave children unsupervised on residential or commercial playgrounds.

Feel free to contact U.S. PlayZone, Inc at any time.  We are always here to answer any of your playground questions.  We are looking forward to helping you keep the children playing in your backyard safe from playground hazards.

Getting rid of playground graffiti

We had a unique challenge at U.S. PlayZone, Inc. in Northern Virginia this week…how to remove gang graffiti from a playground structure.  We got the job done but it would have been easier if there was no graffiti to remove.  I am sure our client felt the same way. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to remove graffiti from any surface.  We at U.S. PlayZone, Inc. use special products to remove paint, permanent marker, crayons and other forms of graffiti from playground equipment in Northern Virginia.  If your playground is vandalized and you are in need of assistance to remove these unsightly “works of art” give us a call and we can help you restore your playground equipment.

 

Why do they have so many names for Engineered Wood Fiber Playground Mulch?

I got a call from a daycare owner who was confused about wood fiber playground safety surfacing options.  She reported calling looking for some wood chips to put down on her daycare’s playground and she wanted someone to tell her the difference between “all these product names”.

Engineered Wood Fiber is what Certified Playground Mulch or Certified Playground Chips are called in the playground safety surfacing industry.  It is sold under many brand names and marketed as playground mulch, playground chips, tot lot mulch and  blown in playground mulch or chips.  I explained that these products are the same thing and some of them are made by different manufactures.  I told her when choosing a wood fiber playground safety surface to make sure the product is CERTIFIED by ASTM  for impact absorption, purity and wheelchair accessibility.

All Certified Playground Chips or Certified Playground Mulch is made from 100% virgin wood fiber, not used wood, which may contain things you don’t want in your playground.  The trees that are used for certified playground chips or mulch are debarked and the material is only made from the interior of the tree. It’s fall-protection effectiveness is grounded in the physics of wood chips. When it is laid, the finer wood chips sink to the bottom creating a soft bedding for the larger pieces on top. This natural “layering” provides buoyancy that cushions the impact of a fall, and insures quick drying.

I told her that uncertified wood chips are wood chips made from the entire tree.  When they make wood chips out of a piece of wood, there is no guarantee that the wood source was a virgin tree that was free from foreign materials.  I gave examples such as pieces of metal, nails and the oils from poison oak and poison ivy.  In addition to the above mentioned issues, uncertified wood chips do not offer children the same protection from falls as Certified Engineered Wood Fiber Playground Mulch or Chips.

Her next question was about how much Certified Engineered Wood Fiber she would need for her daycare’s playground.  I asked her about her playground equipment and she said she had school aged playground equipment at her daycare and children between six years of age and twelve years of age played on her playgrounds daily.  She said “our playground is pretty high”.  I let her know that in the State of Virginia, playground inspectors need to see 9 inches of Certified Engineered Wood Fiber for a playground structure like the one at her place of business.  I also referred her to our Playground Safety Information Library on our website.  I told her that the Public Playground Safety Handbook states the following about safety surfacing:

“Manufacturers and installers of playground protective surfacing should provide the critical height rating of their materials. This rating should be greater than or equal to the fall  height of the highest piece of equipment on the playground. The fall height of a piece of  equipment is the distance between the highest designated play surface on a piece of equipment and the protective surface beneath it.”

After we discussed the depth of the material she would need, she then asked me how to determine the amount she would need to make sure her playground was safe and would also pass inspection.  I told her that she could measure her playground’s length and width and put those numbers into our Engineered Wood Fiber Playground Mulch Calculator for a rough estimate.  However, I told her for the most accurate estimate U.S. PlayZone, Inc. could come out to her site and evaluate her playground and give her a free estimate.

All Playground Engineered Wood Fiber Playground Chip Digouts are not Equal

What is a “Playground Digout“???  For those of you who maintain a Commercial Playground in an area that enforces playground regulations this is a familiar service.  When you surface your playgrounds with Engineered Wood Fiber Playground Chips, the wood fiber breaks down over time due to wear and moisture.

To properly maintain an Engineered Wood Fiber Playground, you must “Top Off” the existing Engineered Wood Fiber Playground Mulch with new material to ensure it still absorbs the impact of falls from Playground Equipment.  As time goes on and you “Top Off” your safety surface with more material, your playground area begins to fill up.  Soon enough, there isn’t anymore room to ‘Top Off” your Certified Engineered Wood Fiber Playground Safety Surface.  At this point in the Playground Maintenance Cycle, you must “Digout” your playground and have it refilled with fresh Engineered Wood Fiber Playground Chips.

Playgrounds need to be dugout every five to eight years depending upon a number of factors.  The factors that affect Engineered Wood Fiber Playground Chip Digouts are unusual weather conditions, usage, drainage and lack of continual maintenance.

Maintaining a Engineered Wood Fiber Playground Chip Safety Surface is an undertaking in itself.  It takes time, work and money to maintain this essential part of your school or childcare facility.  A playground digout is the most expensive part of maintaining your playground.  It is also the best time to install a new drainage system and new playground borders. That being said, it is important to make sure that a reputable company performs these services.

This recently came up for U.S. PlayZone, Inc.  We were  maintaining a playground that had the fallzones dugout a year and a half ago. (Sometimes, owners and operators choose to only have the fallzones around their playground structures dugout to save resources.  This is completely acceptable and a good way for small business to save money).  The fallzones on this playground were not dugout correctly. On slides and playground equipment, the fallzones need to be dugout between  72 and 84 inches from the furthest point of the structure. On swings, the fallzones need to be dug out two times the hight of the crossbar to the front and to the back.  They also need to be dug out six feet on each side.  The fallzones on this playground were dugout too short.  We also found large rocks and other debris in the fallzone areas.

This is problematic because children can be hurt on playgrounds if the playground safety surface is compacted and no longer absorbs impacts.  When your playground isn’t maintained properly,  it leaves your school or childcare center open to lawsuits.  The playground in question was an “accident waiting to happen” until U.S. Playzone, Inc. caught this issue and made the proper adjustments.

To make sure this doesn’t happen to your school or childcare center, be sure to know and understand what fallzones are and how they function.  Don’t be afraid to question your contractor about their practices or their math. Get your tape meausre and measure the fallzones yourself.  Knowledge is the key to playground safety and to reducing liability and costs.

You can find more information about fallzones and playground safety on our website: www.uplayzone.com or you can view the Public Playground Safety Handbook.

U.S. PlayZone, Inc. is also always here to take your calls and answer your question. 703-249-5044.

Below you will find photos of the rocks and roots we found in the fallzones of the playground mentioned above.  If that playground had been dugout correctly a year and a half ago, there is no way a root that size would have had time to grow in that fallzone.  In addition, there should never be a flagstone bigger than a men’s size 12 shoe in a playground fallzone.

Black Rubber Mulch Warning

Recently U.S. PlayZone, Inc. has been doing a lot of Rubber Mulch Digouts.  When we arrive upon the job to give our clients a free estimate we find that their playgrounds are full of the same black, unsealed, unpainted, uncertified and unsorted Rubber Playground Mulch.  In all cases, the customers report that they have had this mulch on their playgrounds for two years and it has become very problematic.  These same customers report that the mulch gets too hot, smells like hot rubber tires and stains the hands of children on their playgrounds.

U.S. PlayZone, Inc. wanted to take a minute to warn people about this mulch before you purchase it.  From the reports of our customers, this mulch is significantly less expensive than other quality rubber mulches.  All Rubber Playground Mulch should be Certified by IPEMA for impact absorption, should meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act and should be Approved by the Environmental Protection Agency for safety.  Before you purchase any Playground Safety Surface make sure it meets the guidelines for safety in your state.  We recommend that any Safety Surface you purchase should not only meet or exceed the guidelines for your state but it should also Meet the National Program for Playground Safety Standards.

If you have any questions or concerns about a product you have purchased or are about to purchase give us a call.  We can help you make informed decisions about your playground safety surface choices.

Office: 703-249-5044 Extension 2

U.S. PlayZone, Inc. (Engineered Wood Fiber) Playground Mulch Installation Videos

U.S. PlayZone, Inc. offers two Playground Chip (Engineered Wood Fiber) Installation Methods.  We install Playground Chips with Pneumatic Blower Truck or by hand.  Each method has its advantages and disadvantages and we like to give our clients as many options as possible.  Please take a moment to view the short video clips to learn more about each of our installation methods.

Services Offered by U.S. PlayZone, Inc.

U.S. PlayZone, Inc. offers clients many products and services in Northern Virginia…we always offer free estimates…

Some of the services we offer our clients…

Certified EWF Playground Mulch
Rubber Playground Mulch
Rubber Playground Tile Safety Surface
Poured In Place Playground Safety Surface
Non-Certified Wood Chips
Playground Pea Gravel
Residential Playgrounds
Commercial Playgrounds
Playground Equipment Installation
Playground Equipment Repair
Playground Inspections and  Audits
Engineered Wood Fiber Digouts
Rubber Mulch Digouts
Playsand Digouts
Playsand Installation
Playground Borders
Playground Safety Mats and Shade Structures
Commercial and Residential Splash Pads
Drainage Repair and Installation
Vegetation Removal & Prevention

U.S. PlayZone, Inc.

U.S. PlayZone, Inc. is a woman owned and family operated Playground Management Company specializing in playground safety surfacing, playground maintenance, playground equipment installation and repair and preventive playground inspections and audits. We focus on customer service, playground safety and implementing the National Program for Playground Safety on playgrounds in Northern Virginia, Washington D.C. and Maryland.

U.S. PlayZone, Inc. offers customers 20 years combined industry experience. We have the experience to keep children safe on your playground while letting our industry connections keep prices low without sacrificing quality. U.S. PlayZone, Inc. specializes in all things playground. Consumers are often overwhelmed by the multitude of options to install, maintain, repair and update their playgrounds. We pride ourselves in offering clients options and solutions to meet their playground needs.

We believe helping our clients understand the National Program for Playground Safety Regulations reduces playground violations, keeps children as safe as possible on the playground and reduces liability issues for property owners. No playground project is too big or too small for U.S. PlayZone, Inc. We offer services to anyone with a playground. U.S. PlayZone, Inc. serves Residential Homeowners, Public and Private Schools, Montessori Academies, Day Schools, Daycares, Pre-Schools, Home Owners Associations and County, State and Federal Governments.

U.S. PlayZone, Inc. is unique because we offer many different playground services and installation methods. When we meet with you to determine your playgrounds needs, our staff will help you determine what services your playground could benefit from and the correct solution for your unique situation.