Do You Know the Facts About Summer Injuries? - Legacy ER

Summer is just around the corner, and while kids everywhere have every reason to be excited about summer break, parents may be thinking of scraped knees, bug bites, sunburn, and even worse injuries. For many parents, summer is considered “trauma season” because the rate of traumatic injuries in children doubles during these three months.

And these common summer injuries aren’t simply the result of sports, either. Simple summer activities like jumping on a trampoline can result in traumatic injuries, too. In fact, an estimated 150,000 people are hospitalized every year for trampoline injuries. Approximately 29% of these patients suffer bone fractures as a result of their activities, and two-thirds are aged six to 14.

If you’re a mom, dad, camp counselor, or babysitter hoping to avoid common summer injuries this year, keep reading to get the facts about the biggest hazards kids face during summer break.

While not every summer injury is a sports injury, more than 36 million kids participate in organized sports every year. About 87% of parents report being worried about their children sustaining sport-related injuries, and for good reason. Millions of kids and teens are injured every year playing organized sports, with basketball, soccer, and football causing high numbers of emergency visits to urgent care clinics.
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Of those injuries that do occur during sporting events, almost 50% of them directly affect the legs and feet. Ankles in particular are vulnerable, bearing the brunt of roughly 15% of sports injuries to the lower extremities. Overall, the five most common sports injuries include dislocated joints, tendon tears, muscle strains, and fractured bones.

Not only are these injuries traumatic, they’re expensive for parents. That’s why more families are choosing to forego the emergency room in favor of local urgent care services. According to a recent study, anywhere from 44% to 65% of ER visits could have been treated in urgent care clinics. Despite that, more than 775,000 children under the age of 15 visit emergency rooms annually for sports injuries.

It’s never too early to prepare for the possibility of summer injuries, but preparing to save money could also play an important role in your summer plans.