Dangers of Hot Playgrounds

July 23, 2008

by Cindy Klose/Christina Taylor (with information from CNN)

It's summertime and most parents are trying to keep their kids busy, but be cautious if you're headed to the playground.

Many playgrounds have a type of poured rubber as a safety feature underneath the equipment. The problem is that dark mat heats up quickly in the sun and as one New York family learned, it takes just seconds to do damage to a barefoot child.

"As soon as he reached the rubber mats he screamed," says Rich Cassen, describing what happened to his 2-year-old son. "He was on the rubber mats maybe 5 seconds. My wife picked him up, looked at the bottom of his feet and the skin was hanging off of his feet. "

The boy ended up in a hospital burn unit with second degree burns. Now his parents are pushing to canopies to shade the playgrounds, for replacement mats in a lighter color and for more detailed signs that explain the potential danger.

Fact Finder 12 checked with the city of Wichita about its playgrounds. The department of Parks and Recreation says, all city playgrounds have some sort of safety material underneath.

Of the 79 playgrounds Wichita maintains, 28 of them have the poured rubberized safety surfacing. It's color-coded to match the playground equipment.

Most of the other playground have sand under them, and a few have gravel or shredded wood material.

On a hot July day, just how hot do playground equipment get? Storm Team 12 Meteorologist Ross Janssen took a thermometer to the playground to find out. Watch his report through the link above.

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