Pier Park Safety Day

April 28, 2005

The Portland Injury Free Coalition for Kids at Oregon Health & Science University will join the Pier Park Playground Safety Group and other North Portland neighborhood organizations in celebrating National Playground Safety Week during a free community event. Activities include arts and crafts for children, games, food, and playground safety presentations.

Among those on hand will be: •Phil Engle, community coordinator for the Portland Injury Free Coalition for Kids at OHSU and a playground safety inspector certified by the National Recreation and Park Association. He works with community organizations on education, playground assessments and developing injury prevention strategies for neighborhoods.

•Keola Morley, a St. Johns neighborhood resident who helped found the Pier Park Playground Safety Group to push for improvements at North Portland parks and schools after her young son sustained a head injury on a piece of playground equipment in 2003.

WHEN: 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, April 30.

WHERE: Pier Park, North Seneca Street and North St. Johns Avenue, Portland.

Falls are the leading cause of injuries requiring hospitalization among Oregon children 14 and younger. Playground falls cause about 31 percent of injuries in children ages 5 to 10, and about 17 percent of injuries in 11- to 14-year-olds. Using trauma data collected at OHSU, investigators created a map of the Portland metropolitan area that revealed several "hotspots" for falls, including North Portland.

The Injury Free Coalition for Kids is a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation comprised of hospital-based, community-oriented programs anchored in research, education and advocacy. The Portland program is coordinated through OHSU's Department of Emergency Medicine, Think First Oregon and Doernbecher Children’s Hospital.

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For more information, contact Keola Morley, Pier Park Playground Safety Group, at 503 283-4473 or Phil Engle, Portland Injury Free Coalition for Kids, OHSU, at 503 494-1169. Or visit the coalition's Web site at www.ohsu.edu/emergency/injuryfree/about.htm.