WHERE CHILD'S PLAY CAN TURN DEADLY

When Andrew Kidd was 5, he fell from a piece of playground equipment and tore his lip and chin on a protruding bolt. His injuries were so bad that when he was taken to the hospital emergency room, the staff assumed he had been in a car accident.

After 87 stitches and 15 plastic surgeries, Andrew, now 11, has recovered. But the incident was so severe that he and his mother, Judi Kidd, have joined the National Program for Playground Safety, based at the University of Northern Iowa, in an effort to educate the public about playground dangers.

Now Andrew travels throughout the nation with friends and family, speaking to groups of students and adults about possible hazards on playgrounds. He has received many awards and even a free trip to Disney World, but the topic he addresses is much more important than the honors he has earned.

According to the National Safe Kids campaign, an effort dedicated to preventing childhood injuries, there were more than 208,000 playground-related injuries in 1999 serious enough to require a trip to the emergency room. While bikes, scooters and other moving toys pose a greater risk to children -- 382,000 kids were injured on them in 1999 -- playground injuries result in an average of 15 deaths a year.

Dr. Tres Scherer, a pediatric surgeon at Riley Hospital for Children, regularly treats such injuries. Although the majority of them are broken bones due to falls, he has seen the damage that unsafe equipment can cause.

Although guidelines for playground manufacturers exist, these recommendations to ensure the equipment is safe do not have the force of law in Indiana. They also fail to address the age of the equipment. Old playgrounds often do not meet today's safety standards.

Scherer cautions that children should avoid any playground where they can fall a distance of more than twice their height or burn their hands and feet on metal equipment that is exposed to the sun's heat. He also notes that loose clothing can get caught on equipment, resulting in strangulation.

Additionally, Andrew and his mother warn against swings that have hard, wobbly seats; bars without adequate spacing between them; and protruding objects such as the one that caused Andrew's injuries.

The Kidds and Scherer emphasize that the most important part of any playground is its surfacing. The severity of 70 percent of injuries, including Andrew's, could be greatly decreased with soft ground surfaces such as pea gravel, mulch, sand or shredded tires.

But Scherer adds that "you can only do so much to design the equipment to be safe," and that it is necessary to ensure that children use the equipment properly. Because children want to push the limit, active adult supervision is an essential aspect of safe play.

Andrew agrees that safe use of the equipment is also important. He says many injuries occur when children play on playgrounds that aren't appropriate for their age, although Scherer has not encountered this problem.

When kids hear Andrew's message, they often are skeptical, worried that caution will lead to a less enjoyable playtime. But after hearing about his experience, most are convinced that safety should be the priority on playgrounds. "I think they listen to me because I'm a kid and they kind of understand what I'm trying to say," he explains.

So where is the line between having fun and playing safe? According to Scherer, it is "being in control. If you're in control of what you are doing, then you can do it safely."

REPORTERS: Raeann Potasnik, 12; George Jernigan, 13; Zack Jernigan, 13; and Joe Morgan, 12.