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City Responds To Severe Playground Injuries

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Aug 16, 2006 9:36 am US/Eastern

City Responds To Severe Playground Injuries

Parks Dpt. Looking Into Metal Surface Alternatives

BROOKLYN (CBS) ―

Click to enlarge 1 of 3: Itamar suffered second-degree burns on the bottoms of his feet.
CBS
Click to enlarge 2 of 3
Click to enlarge 3 of 3: The gruesome burns landed 3-year-old Itamar Pres to the hospital for 11 days.
CBS

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There are now signs all over a playground at Brooklyn Bridge Park reminding people to wear shoes at all times. The Parks Department is hoping they'll help prevent another child from severely burning his or her feet.

As CBS 2 first reported, 3-year-old Itamar Pres was playing barefoot in the sprinklers at the park during the last heat wave, when he ventured onto a bridge connected to the jungle gym.

"It was like walking on a frying pan," said Noga Marizman, Itamar's mother. "I ran to the sprinklers to cool off his feet, and as I was looking at, it I knew it was serious. It wasn't just a regular burn. The blisters formed within seconds."

Itamar was in the hospital for 11 days. While the jungle gym is made of coated wood and plastic, the bridge is pure metal, which even on a mild day can heat up to over 100 degrees.

"I've never heard of using metal rails as ramps in playgrounds and parks," said Yves Antenor of the New York Public Interest Research Group, which conducts annual surveys of safety hazards in city playgrounds.

He said using a metal surface is a danger, and the Parks Department needs to do more than hang some signs here to prevent another accident.

"People overlook it," said Antenor.

Cairo Foster was letting her daughter run around barefoot in the park Tuesday. She said she didn't notice the signs.

"I think there's a lot of signs in the world that we just don't see," Foster said. "So I guess I should put the shoes on."

The Parks Department said it can't resurface the bridge because it's wheelchair accessible, but safety experts disagree.

Antenor said different materials could be used. He said hard plastics are one sturdy option, but metal is definitely not the way.

The Parks Department told CBS 2 Tuesday it's now exploring other, safer surfaces that would still meet the needs of disabled patrons.

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