Originally Posted by Crystal:
I completely agree Nanny that there needs to be some accountability on the providers part....she certainly was neglectful.
I don't know that it warrants her being closed down though. Sure, a validated complaint goes in her public file for parents to check prior to enrolling children, and if there is ever another incident of neglect documented and proven, then she should be closed. Honestly though, who among us feels the temperarture of any playground equipment, every time we get ready to use it, with our bare hands AND feet? And who would ever think that the temperature of a slide would get to 163 degrees and cause burns like that? Sure, you realize they get hot, but not THAT hot.
It certainly is also the responsibility of the parks department to ensure that equipment they provide to the public, unsupervised by the parks dept. themselves, is safe for the people who are most likely to use it, and that would be small children.
I also think there needs to be some accountability on the manufactuer of the slide if there was no clear, written warning provided when the equipment was released for sale.
Sad situation. I hope the little girl fully recovers.
I disagree. It is every providers responsibility to assess the safety of any equipment the child will be using before they use it. This includes a visual inspection to assure there isn't anything that can catch the child's clothes, cut the child, entrapment hazards, etc. An assesment of the AGE appropriateness is crucial. Children should not be on equipment that has a fall zone inappropriate for their ages. This equipment was COMPLETELY inappropriate for this child.
The temperature of ANYTHING touching the children should be checked before the child has access. This includes playground equipment and surfacing. I live right next to a city park that we use for the children. It is very simple to check the equiment and test for the temperature. It takes SECONDS to do this. I pop my shoes off and walk thru the sand. I put my hands directly on the surface for about five seconds of the slide and any metal the children will come in contact with. I go THRU the climbing equipment BEFORE I allow the kids on it.
The whole checking process takes a couple of minutes to check the area for safety. I use the same park over and over so I know the equipment. The way I judge it is by the high temperature of the day. If it is over sixty degrees outside the temperature of the equipment could harm the kids. These are the days we are particularly vigilent about checking all of the areas of the play structure, the asphalt on the tennis court, the poles, the swing set seats, the ride on spring toys etc.
The visual inspection is also very important. The provider needs to check for broken glass, garbage, and any debris in the area. When we go into the tennis courts we go along the permiter of the fencing and check for anything that could harm the kids.
We have the kids trained to stand next to the strollers while holding onto them while we check. They do not move until we give them the okay. We park the strollers adjacent to whatever equipment we are going to use and have the kids connected to the strollers with "tot a longs" so they can't go astray. The whole time we are checking we are also watching the children and the activity around them.
It's a very simple process that insures that anything they come in contact with will not harm them. It takes training the children to be patient while you do a survey. A few minutes of their play time is worth the precaution. Once you get used to doing it you will be able to size things up very quickly.
I do think she should be shut down and charges filed. She not only allowed this child access to equipment that was too hot but she allowed a young toddler unsupervised access to a fall zone that was VERY VERY unsafe. If you stop the tape and look at the equipment you will see that there was a substantial height from the poles on the side at the top of the slide to the ground. She could have fallen off of the side of that and broken her neck, back, or worse... died. The provider didn't even CONSIDER that. She left her there without spotting her. She shouldn't have allowed the kid on that equipment without physically holding onto her at all times.
She doesn't know what she is doing. It is NOT safe for children to be in her care. Even after the tradgedy she didn't have the capapbility to realize the child shouldn't have been on the equipment at ALL. She talked about the amount of time the child was on it being injured NOT that she shouldn't have been on there for ONE SECOND without direct physical supervision.
If you don't understand how to keep children safe in your care you shouldn't be caring for children at all. This wasn't a case where the child walked by the slide and touched it and got burnt. This was a case where an unsupervised baby was on a very high and hot surface with no adult to protect her.
To me, this is absolute common sense. It's basic child care 101.