Child Injury Lawyer Blog
By David Wolf, Attorney Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
Most playgrounds throughout virtually every community have monkey bars. While monkey bars are quite common, they are still dangerous especially for young children climbing on or transversing monkey bars in a playground. It takes a certain strength, dexterity, skill, and endurance to climb across monkey bars from one side of the playground to another. Because of this, children frequently fall from monkey bars to the ground of the playground area. Most falls are uneventful. The child merely brushes off the mulch, dirt, or other ground cover and then continues playing with friends on the playground. Unfortunately for some children, a fall from monkey bars can result in serious personal injuries including fractures, sprains, lacerations, and head injuries.
As a Child Injury Lawyer, I am often asked if the parents of an injured child can pursue a case or claim on behalf of the injured child for injuries sustained as a result from a fall from monkey bars. Is a school, day care center, after school program, or camp liable for injuries related to a fall from monkey bars? The answer to this question is “it depends.” Injuries resulting from a fall from monkey bars is often defended on the grounds that the monkey bars are common and there is no way to prevent every single accident or incident that takes place on a playground. Defendants argue that it is impractical and expensive to post an employee, counselor, aide, or other adult directly under the monkey bars for the entirety of the play time period.
The U.S. Product Safety Commission publishes guidelines and recommendations for the set up, maintenance, and supervision of children in playgrounds in the publication – Public Playground Safety Handbook. Because playgrounds are present in virtually every school, community, day care center, and park, it is important that guidelines and recommendations are considered and followed when reasonable and practical to do so.
In Kansas and other States, parents rely on day care centers to provide care and supervision of their children during the work day. In most instances, the children are cared for in a safe, clean, and loving environment. At the end of the work day, the parents pick up their children from the day care center and enjoy the rest of the evening with family. Unfortunately, on some days for some children, the day is not so enjoyable. In fact, some children even suffer serious personal injuries while under the care and supervision of a Kansas day care center. In some instances, tragedy strikes and a child dies while enrolled in a day care center. What starts out as an ordinary day for the parents, day care center, and child ends in tragedy.
In Long Island, New York, three bounce houses went airborne after some strong winds lifted up the bounce houses at a soccer tournament. The incident took place at the Town of Oceanside (Long Island) New York at the United Soccer Club. Bounce houses can be susceptible to strong winds and thereby create a zone of danger when the bounce houses are not properly secured in place. When operating or renting a bounce house, it is important to read the weather forecast. Furthermore, it is also important to monitor the weather forecast and weather reports during the time that the bounce house is in place. While bounce houses are typically fun for children, safety is a priority at all times. It was reported that 13 people were injured as a result of this bounce house incident. See 
Marquise Bessllieu, 17, a Georgetown High School (South Carolina) basketball player is recovering after being stabbed outside Georgetown Presbyterian Church. Police arrested the attacker who was later identified as 24-year-old Maliek Gibbs. Bassllieu first encountered Gibbs during the basketball game when Gibbs took the basketball. A few minutes later Gibbs stabbed Bessellieu in the abdomen outside in the parking lot.
Evan Coubal, a 6th-grader of Muskego, Wisconsin tragically died from a head injury he sustained after falling off playground equipment. Evan was an athletic boy and had recently sustained a concussion during a youth football game about a week prior to the playground incident. Although Evan took time off from playing football after sustaining the concussion, he was playing around the school’s football sleds during recess. Evan accidentally hit his head on one of the sleds and was immediately rushed to a hospital. He died two days after the accident. If you would like to read more on this story please see 
A tram accident at the Six Flags Discovery Kingdom theme park in Vallejo, California left 3 injured. Nancy Chan, a Six Flags spokeswoman, told local reporters that the tram was transporting guests to the parking lot when it was struck by a swinging metal gate. Apparently, a guest inadvertently pushed the gate causing it to swing and hit the tram. A 34-year-old man suffered from a protruding injury to his leg and a two-year-old girl had a laceration to her stomach. The third victim, an adult woman, only suffered minor injuries. The 34-year-old man was airlifted to UC Davis Medical and the two-year-old child was airlifted to Kaiser in Vallejo and later taken to Children’s Hospital in Oakland. Bill Tweety, a spokesman with Vallejo Fire, stated both victims are still believed to be in serious condition. If you would like to read more on this story please see