Playground burn is a new incident in todays playgrounds, with excessive heat there are more hidden dangers that parents were not conscious of before. One tragic incident occured on Memorial day this year in New York City at Carl Shultz Park on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, where a young boy suffered tragic playground burn from dangerously hot playground mats. Rubber mats are usually used to protect children when they fall, but who would have thought that while protecting children in one way could become a hazard in other ways. These rubber mats become very hot when the blistering sun causes the mats’ temperatures to rise to high levels.
Continue reading ‘Shade structures can help to prevent play equipment burn’
The National Oceanic Atmospheric Association has designed a heat index chart that provides general guidelines for assessing the potential severity of heat stress. Schools are advised to check your local heat index readings to ensure children are protected during practice and rest periods.
http://www.momsteam.com/alpha/features/nutrition/noaa_heat_index_chart.shtml
To futher reduce heat fatigue, Mom’s are encouraged to fundraise for shade structures to ensure players have shelter from the sun. Shade structures are manufactured using UV stabilized polyethelene, which breathes creating a cooler cushion underneath, which is ideal for giving cool relief to football players during the summer. Additionally shade structures are 15 degrees cooler than conventional steel roofs and are therefore a preferred shade option for sports today. See our structures at www.shade4schools.com and learn how you can fundraise for your child’s football team today.
Fred Mueller, a professor of exercise and sports medicine at the University of North Carolina compiles a list of boys who died playing or practicing football. Most of these deaths are heat related as their body temperatures rose so high and so fast that their bodies could not regulate these extreme temperatures, and the students died. This is a tragic and sad situation as it does not have to be so. With caution and prevention, we can prevent more children dying from excessive heat with the necessary guidelines for coaches and schools to ensure that their children are protected from over-exposure.
Shade structures added to the advise listed below, will help to minimize this risk for children. Shade structures are a sure way of providing an oasis from the heat during breaks. See our various models at www.shade4schools.com , and although we do not feature an installation for football fields we are receiving more interest daily on the possiblities of protecting boys during their practice breaks on the field. By attaching various models alongside each other we are able to create a continuous shade shelter where boys can cool down their body temperatures, rest awhile before going back on the field.
Heat-related deaths can be prevented by;-
*Ensuring all athletes undergo regular physicals, and being aware that your overweight players are more at risk and will require more care;
*Build an acclimatizing schedule into the practice program, by allowing players to practice without their football uniforms for the first week.
*Alter practice schedules and break up workouts, routines could be done under shade structures for the first weeks before going out in full sun.
* Ensure adequate water supplies to keep players hydrated.
* Provide shaded rest areas, where players may remove outer clothing to cool down.
* Understand the symptons to detect early signals of heat illness. Some early signals include nausea, incoherence, fatigue, weakness, vomiting, muscle cramps, weak rapid pulse, visual disturbance.
* Have an emergency plan in place.
The Annual survey of football injuries is conducted each year, and 2006 recorded a total of 20 deaths, with 13 of these being middle and high schoolers. Heat related injuries are preventable and can be reduced drastically by providing shade structures on your football fields for players. Use Shade4Schools program to fundraise to ensure your children are adequately protected during practice and rest breaks.
Climate change affects another social behavior, this time its school schedules. August saw a trend of many school districts closing early or changing school schedules to curtail the heat. Some schools even canceled recesses to avoid children having to play outdoors due to soaring temperatures. As the heat goes up we are seeing more and more schools opt to use our shade structures to cover their playgrounds to enable their children to have more outdoor play. Further, shade structures may have water misters affixed to them which gives the children more relief and more fun in the shade.
To ensure that schools are aware of whta the heat and humidity is outdoors, the National Weather Services issues excessive heat warnings and schools are advised to check out your local temperatures before allowing children to be exposed. Go to our website www.shade4schools.com to learn how you can protect your children, while affording them that critical exercise time outdoors.
