Playing It Safe

“I started out with a helmet and that’s it. Because I didn’t think anything
was gonna happen.” Melanie Hoffman/Age 9

Two months ago, Melanie Hoffman had an accident on her roller
blades.

“I was rushed to the emergency room and I got 30 stitches and
I had to have them for two and a half weeks,” Melanie said.

Doctors say that, like Melanie, a lot of kids learn the hard
way, and many children don’t get a second chance.

“We see a number of children who come in, unfortunately who’ve
been doing something, not wearing a helmet, no protective gear, and they don’t
go home with their family” said Dr. William Schmitt. “If a child sustains a
major injury, and if they have complications, it could affect them for the rest
of their life.”

On a more positive note, pediatric orthopedic specialists say
that over the years we have gotten smarter and learned that we can prevent many
injuries.

For rolling sports like bike riding and roller blading, Dr.
Schmitt says a helmet is a must and the more safety equipment the better.

Joe Hoffman, Melanie’s father agrees with this advice and he’s
made it a rule. “She knows she can’t ride her bike without certain safety devices.”

Melanie now wears knee pads, a helmet, and elbow pads. All kids
should wear this stuff, she says, but some kids think it’s not cool. “That’s
what I thought in the beginning, but not anymore,” Melanie says.

Sport Related Injuries in 1998

What Are The Risks of Injury in Various Sports?

Despite safety measures, such as protective padding and helmets,
the risk of injury is present in all sports. Some sports pose a greater risk
than others, with football leading the list. Children and parents should be
aware of the risks involved with each sports activity.

The chance of injury increases with the degree of contact in a
sport. Football produces many times the number of injuries as the next group
of sports with significant injuries: wrestling, gymnastics, soccer, basketball,
and track/running. Knee injuries are the most common serious injury in major
sports. Boxing involves a high risk of brain damage: therefore, no young person
should participate in this sport.

Most sports injuries involve the soft tissues of the body, not
the bony skeleton. Only about 5% of sports injuries involve fractures. By far
the greatest numbers of injuries (two thirds of the total) are sprains and strains.
Sprains are injuries to the ligaments, which connect one bone to another. Strains
are injuries to the muscles.

Source: American Academy of Pediatrics

Why Injuries Occur

Sports injuries are not accidents. They are very predictable events.
The following list represents some of the reasons why children may become injured
unnecessarily in sports activities:

• Improper, poorly fitted or lack of safety equipment
• Grouping teams by age instead of size
• Hazardous playing field
• Training errors
• Fatigue
• Lack of coaching
• Insufficient instruction
• Conditioning and training errors
• Failure to do warm-ups, stretching and cool down exercises
• Playing injured
• Stress
• Temperature
• Poor nutrition

Source: National Sports Safety Foundation

Resources

Consumer Product Safety Commission

National Youth Sports Safety Foundation

American Academy of Pediatrics National
Center for Injury Prevention and Control

National Highway Traffic Safety administration