Playground Safety
Each year, more than 200,000 children go to U.S. hospital emergency rooms with injuries associated with playground equipment, this equates to one child being injured every two and a half minutes. Most injuries occur when a child falls from the equipment onto the ground. Many backyard play-sets are placed on dirt or grass–surfaces that do not adequately protect children when they fall. REMSA would like to remind parents of some important safety tips regarding playgrounds and their children.
Quick Checklist for Parents:
Place this list in a prominent area of your home for quick reference. Then, before your children head out the door for the playground, check that:
Supervision is present, but strings and ropes aren’t.
- Adult presence is needed to watch for potential hazards, observe, intercede and facilitate play when necessary. Strings on clothing or ropes used for play can cause accidental strangulation if caught on equipment.
All children play on age-appropriate equipment.
- Preschoolers, ages 2 – 5, and children, ages 5 – 12, are developmentally different and need different equipment located in separate areas to keep the playground safe and fun for all.
Falls to surface are cushioned.
- Nearly 70 percent of all playground injuries are related to falls to the surface. Acceptable surfaces include hardwood fiber/mulch, pea gravel, sand and synthetic materials such as poured-in-place, rubber mats or tiles. Playground surfaces should not be concrete, asphalt, grass, blacktop, packed dirt or rocks.
Equipment is safe.
- Check to make sure the equipment is anchored safely in the ground, all equipment pieces are in good working order, S-hooks are entirely closed, bolts are not protruding, there are no exposed footings, etc.
Occurrence and Consequences:
- About 45% of playground-related injuries are severe—fractures, internal injuries, concussions, dislocations, and amputations.
- About 75% of nonfatal injuries related to playground equipment occur on public playgrounds. Most occur at schools and daycare centers.
- Between 1990 and 2000, 147 children ages 14 and younger died from playground-related injuries. Of them, 82 (56%) died from strangulation and 31 (20%) died from falls to the playground surface. Most of these deaths (70%) occurred on home playgrounds.
- In 1995, playground-related injuries among children ages 14 and younger cost an estimated $1.2 billion (Office of Technology Assessment 1995).
- While all children who use playgrounds are at risk for injury, girls sustain injuries (55%) slightly more often than boys (45%) (Tinsworth 2001).
- Children ages 5 to 9 have higher rates of emergency department visits for playground injuries than any other age group. Most of these injuries occur at school (Phelan 2001).
Red Light? Move RIGHT
As the area’s leading paramedic ambulance provider, REMSA, along with local fire and law enforcement officials need your help. A few minutes, even a few seconds, can mean the difference between life and death. So when you hear a siren or see emergency lights, remember to do your part to help make sure emergency vehicles can get to those who need help. With bad weather this winter, it is important to obey the rules when seeing emergency flashing lights. REMSA would like to share the following information to keep the roads safe:
Remember, the R-I-G-H-T thing to do:
React
Respond quickly but calmly. Scan all directions for more than one emergency vehicle. Plan your next move.
Initiate
Begin your move to the right. Use your turn signal. Try not to slam on your brakes or pull over suddenly and never run a red light to move to the right.
Gauge
Remember to safely gauge the distance between your car and the cars around you, and pull over as far right as possible. Never stop at a place that doesn’t have enough room for you to pull over safely.
Halt
Stay completely stopped to the right of the road until the emergency vehicle has safely passed. Remember there may be more than one vehicle responding, so scan around before you merge back into traffic.
Tolerate
Emergency personnel only use their lights and sirens when they are needed to offer critical care and assistance. So please, pull over. It only takes a few seconds of your time. Someday you may be the one calling for help — for you, a loved one, friend, or neighbor.
Other Helpful Reminders from REMSA:
Crosswalks and Roadsides
Be alert for pedestrians who may be in the crosswalk, or the edge of the road. They may be looking for the emergency vehicles too.
Highways
Gradually brake to avoid losing control in loose gravel on the shoulder.
Pedestrians
Never cross in front of an emergency vehicle that may be stopped at a busy intersection waiting for another vehicle to pass.
Bicyclists
Pull as far to the right as possible to allow emergency vehicles to pass.
Remember, when you see red and blue lights or hear sirens, MOVE TO THE RIGHT…you are making a difference in the life of someone in your community.
REMSA TEAM WINS BRONZE MEDAL AT JEMS GAMES AT NATIONAL EMS CONFERENCE
Reno, Nev. – A team of paramedics from the Regional Emergency Medical Service Authority (REMSA) won the bronze medal finishing in third place at the annual JEMS (Journal of Emergency Medical Services) Games at the national EMS (Emergency Medical Services) Today Conference in Baltimore, Md., on March 6. REMSA Paramedics Matt Dixon, Chris Watson and Adam Heinz made up the REMSA team.
“The REMSA team performed in exemplary fashion and displayed a calmness rarely seen at this level of competition,” said Criss Brainard, deputy chief of San Diego Fire and Rescue and lead judge during the JEMS Games event. “The REMSA team also provided outstanding patient care while remaining calm under pressure. I would consider it an honor having any member of the REMSA team take care of my family.”
The REMSA team competed against 20 other three-member teams from around the world in a series of emergency medical service related events. Scoring was based on skill, speed and medical accuracy. After the preliminary competition, the REMSA team was selected as one of the three finalists that participated in the finals consisting of a large-scale mass casualty incident bus accident emergency medical scenario. By placing in the top three, REMSA’s fees for participating in next year’s competition have been waived. The REMSA team was sponsored by local medical supply companies.
Cape Fear/Duplin County in North Carolina finished in first place and Sussex County EMS in Delaware finished in second place. Other notable teams included New York Fire Department, Miami Dade Fire Rescue and Boca Raton Fire Department who finished in fourth place.
During the competition, the lead paramedic of each team wore a wireless microphone to allow the audience and judges to hear the team’s communications. Approximately 3,000 spectators were in attendance to watch the finals.
Family Safety Preparedness
Safety is always a top priority for families. However, families often do not have a safety plan and are ill prepared for possible emergencies. REMSA would like to remind families about what can be done to be better prepared.
Four Steps to Safety
1. Find Out What Could Happen to You
• Contact your local emergency management office, such as Red Cross, before a disaster occurs–be prepared to take notes.
• Ask what types of disasters are most likely to happen. Request information on how to prepare for each.
• Learn about your community’s warning signals: what they sound like and what you should do when you hear them.
• Ask about animal care after a disaster. Animals are not allowed inside emergency shelters because of health regulations.
• Find out how to help elderly or disabled persons, if needed.
• Find out about the disaster plans at your workplace, your children’s school or day care center, and other places where your family spends time.
2. Create a Disaster Plan
• Meet with your family and discuss why you need to prepare for disaster. Explain the dangers of fire, severe weather, and earthquakes to children. Plan to share responsibilities and work together as a team.
• Discuss the types of disasters that are most likely to happen. Explain what to do in each case.
• Pick two places to meet:
1. Right outside your home in case of a sudden emergency, like a fire.
2. Outside your neighborhood in case you can’t return home. Everyone must know the address and phone number.
• Ask an out-of-state friend to be your “family contact.” After a disaster, it’s often easier to call long distance. Other family members should call this person and tell them where they are. Everyone must know your contact’s phone number.
• Discuss what to do in an evacuation. Plan how to take care of your pets.
3. Complete This Checklist
Home Hazard Hunt
• In a disaster, ordinary items in the home can cause injury and damage. Anything that can move, fall, break, or cause a fire is a potential hazard.
• Repair defective electrical wiring and leaky gas connections.
• Fasten shelves securely.
• Place large, heavy objects on lower shelves.
• Hang pictures and mirrors away from beds.
• Brace overhead light fixtures.
• Secure water heater. Strap to wall studs.
• Repair cracks in ceilings or foundations.
• Store weed killers, pesticides, and flammable products away from heat sources.
• Place oily polishing rags or waste in covered metal cans.
• Clean and repair chimneys, flue pipes, vent connectors, and gas vents.
• Post emergency telephone numbers by phones (fire, police, ambulance, etc.).
• Teach children how and when to call 9-1-1 or your local Emergency Medical Services number for emergency help.
• Show each family member how and when to turn off the utilities (water, gas, and electricity) at the main switches.
• Check if you have adequate insurance coverage.
• Get training from the fire department for each family member on how to use the fire extinguisher (ABC type), and show them where it’s kept.
• Install smoke detectors on each level of your home, especially near bedrooms.
• Stock emergency supplies and assemble a Disaster Supplies Kit.
• Take a Red Cross first aid and CPR class.
• Determine the best escape routes from your home. Find two ways out of each room.
• Find the safe places in your home for each type of disaster.
4. Practice and Maintain Your Plan
• Quiz your kids every six months or so.
• Conduct fire and emergency evacuations.
• Replace stored water and stored food every six months.
• Test and recharge your fire extinguisher(s) according to manufacturer’s instructions.
• Test your smoke detectors monthly and change the batteries at least once a year.
OTHER WAYS TO REMAIN SAFE:
Neighbors Helping Neighbors
Working with neighbors can save lives and property. Meet with your neighbors to plan how the neighborhood could work together after a disaster until help arrives. If you’re a member of a neighborhood organization, such as a home association or crime watch group, introduce disaster preparedness as a new activity. Know your neighbors’ special skills (e.g., medical, technical) and consider how you could help neighbors who have special needs, such as disabled and elderly persons. Make plans for child care in case parents can’t get home.
If Disaster Strikes
Remain calm and patient. Put your plan into action.
Check for Injuries
Give first aid and get help for seriously injured people.
Listen to Your Battery-Powered Radio for News and Instructions
Check for Damage in Your Home…
• Use flashlights. Do not light matches or turn on electrical switches, if you suspect damage.
• Sniff for gas leaks, starting at the water heater. If you smell gas or suspect a leak, turn off the main gas valve, open windows, and get everyone outside quickly.
• Shut off any other damaged utilities. (You will need a professional to turn gas back on.)
• Clean up spilled medicines, bleaches, gasoline, and other flammable liquids immediately.
Remember to…
• Confine or secure your pets.
• Call your family contact–do not use the telephone again unless it is a life-threatening emergency.
• Check on your neighbors, especially elderly or disabled persons.
• Make sure you have an adequate water supply in case service is cut off.
• Stay away from downed power lines.
To set up a media interview with a REMSA representative, please call Scott Walquist at 775.686.2116.
REMSA is a private, not-for-profit emergency medical services system serving northern Nevada. REMSA’s state-of-the-art 9-1-1 dispatch communications center is fully accredited, as are all emergency medical transport services of the company. REMSA provides quality patient care with no taxpayer support or other subsidies.
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May CCEMPT Course
New CCEMTP course available in May. Go to www.remsaeducation.com or call 775-353-0781 for more information and to register.
iPhone compatability for REMSAeducation.com
Our website has been optimized for viewing on the iPhone. When you visit REMSAeducation.com or Employee Tools you will be greeted with an iPhone friendly web application. More WAP enabled browser will be coming in the near future. We are continually trying to improve our services to the community. Any input is greatly appreciated.
We are also proud to provide REMSA employees with a one common site to access all of their important links.
2009 Winter Sports Injury Symposium
Get the latest treatment modalities and strategies to manage winter injuries
Includes: CE’s, Food, Expo, Raffle Prizes and No Host Bar
The Program:
3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Registration and Exhibits Open
4:00 p.m. – 4:10 p.m. Welcome and Announcements
4:10 p.m. – 4:45 p.m. Tricks on Packaging and Transport Decisions, Dan Coll, PA
4:55 p.m. – 5:45 p.m. Pediatric Winter Injuries, Gordon H. Worley, RN, CFRN, Flight Nurse, REACH Air Medical Services
5:45 p.m. – 6:45 p.m. Dinner
6:45 p.m. – 7:45 p.m. Chest and Abdominal Winter Sports Injuries, Myron Gomez, MD
7:45 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Break
8:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. Orthopedic Traumatic Injuries in Winter Sports, Peter Althousen, MD
Admission is $20 to EMT’s, Ski Patrollers, Paramedics, Firefighters, Law Enforcement, RN’s, MD’s SAR members and any Pre-Hospital personnel.
CE Credits: This course has been approved for a maximum of 4 contact hours for pre-hospital providers by the California Emergency Medical Services Authority (Provider #94-0104) and the Nevada State Board of Nursing (Provider #NV030198-1). CE credit approved for Nevada EMS Providers.
Registration: $20. Register at www.regonline.com/WSIS2009
Sign up by November 27, 2009 or you may call the Tahoe Center for Health & Sports Performance at (530)587.3769 for more information regarding this course. Space is limited and will be accommodated on a first come, first serve basis. Reserve today!
First Aid for Outdoor Related Emergencies
Emergencies can happen anywhere at anytime. The last place you want to be unprepared is when you are far away from help. REMSA’s Outdoor First Aid class will cover all aspects of first aid as well as provide detailed information about outdoor related injuries and illnesses. Some of the topics presented in the course include environmental emergencies, splinting, bandaging, scene safety, head, chest and spine injuries, as well as proper techniques for lifting and moving patients. Participants will have the opportunity to utilize the knowledge learned in the classroom during an afternoon of practice in a local park utilizing the various terrain to put their new skills to the test.
Course Faculty: Scott Kesler, NREMTP
Course Dates: October 10 & 11, 2009, 09:00—17:00
Course Cost: $100 per student, group discounts may apply, please call
Audience: Anyone who would like detailed information on the care and treatment of common outdoor injuries and illnesses.
Registration: 775.858.5700 Ext 4168 or www.remsaeducation.com
Assessment & Management of Athletic Injuries
Reno-Tahoe is “America’s Adventure Place” and for that reason both residents and visitors experience sports injuries all year round. Dr. James Pappas, M.D. will discuss the assessment and management of commonly encountered athletic injuries along with proper safety equipment removal or management and pain management for athletic injuries in the prehospital setting. Dr. Pappas is an Orthopedic Surgeon and certified in Sports Medicine from the American Board of Medical Specialties. Dr. Pappas served as a team physician to the University of Nevada for the past 12 years with 8 of those years as the head Team Physician.
Course Faculty: Dr. James Pappas
Course Dates: October 12, 2009 , 15:00—17:00, October 15, 2009, 17:00—19:00, October 16, 2009, 10:00—12:00
Course Cost: $20, Free to REMSA / Care Flight Employees (employees must call to register)
Audience: Course is open to EMT’s, Paramedics, RN’s, Other Medical Professionals
Registration: 775.858.5700 Ext 4168 or www.remsaeducation.com
Continuing Education Units Information: Approved for 2.0 Hours
CA EMS #94-0104 / BRN CE Provider #NV030198-1