Guidelines have existed for years, but California is the first state to put those recommendations into law, says Lea Brooks, spokeswoman for the state Department of Health Services. Under the new law, playgrounds open to the public have until Oct. 1 to undergo initial safety inspections. Owners then have until 2003 to bring the playgrounds into compliance. But proper equipment and surfacing can decrease the severity of incidents. Thompson gives playground manufacturers credit for improving equipment design in recent years.
Most injuries occur on climbing equipment and swing sets.
Not to be downplayed is the role of adult supervision, says Stuart Hirsch, MD, chairman of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons' council on communications. The academy recently launched a media campaign urging parents to monitor their children more carefully. The ultimate responsibility falls on the adults, agrees Flanagan. But she notes that sometimes injuries are inevitable. There were probably five teachers around my daughter when she fell.