Every year, families look forward to the summer for its relaxing vacations, fun cookouts and a chance to play outdoors. However, with all of this activity, doctors at Nationwide Children’s Hospital have recently noticed a trend in children’s injuries during the summer months -- injuries that are both predictable and preventable.

Dr. Kathy Nuss, associate medical director of Trauma Services at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, and a team of doctors, have narrowed down a list of the most common mechanisms of injuries that send children to the hospital during the summer.

Falls

Falls consistently top the list of summer injuries. While objects such as trampolines have proven to be dangerous, many injuries arise from things that parents may assume are much safer.

“We see a lot of kids falling from playground equipment,” says Dr. Nuss, who is also operations medical director for Emergency Services at Nationwide Children’s. “If possible, find playgrounds that are spread with mulch or shredded tire; these surfaces add more cushion versus concrete or blacktop.”

Bicycle Injuries

According to The Center for Injury Research and Policy at The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s, nearly 400,000 children younger than 19 years-old are treated in emergency rooms across the country every year for bicycle-related injuries. While the arms and legs are injured the most, head injuries are the most serious, and are the top causes of death in this group. Wearing a bicycle helmet is critical, doctors said, as well as using hand signals, walking the bicycle across busy streets and intersections, and making sure the seat and handlebars fit the child.

Motorized Vehicles

From ATVs and scooters to cars and golf carts, children are finding their way onto many different types of motorized vehicles. While kids, both young and old, have little control over these accidents, parental supervision is the key to preventing an injury.

“We’re seeing ATV crashes where very young children are riding with an older sibling, and they fall off,” says Dr. Nuss.

Burns

Burns are in the top five, but not always from fireworks.

Doctors typically see older kids come in with "flash burns," which result from direct contact with fire, such as camp fires or fireworks. Younger kids often suffer from "scald burns," which result from contact with heat such as pulling hot food off the counter or water burns.

To help prevent these injuries, doctors said older kids should be supervised when using fireworks or around a campsite. Parents should keep hot foods and water away from the edges of tables or countertops.

Drownings

While they aren’t exactly top summer injuries that send kids to the hospital, near-drownings are a serious problem this time of year. These accidents often occur in backyard pools and landscape pools, but can also happen in just inches of water. Parents should always practice touch supervision – be close enough to reach out to the child at any time. Experts at Nationwide Children’s also strongly encourage parents to get certified in CPR and to always make sure their child is wearing an approved flotation device such as a life vest.

Summer safety will be top of mind for Stephanie Brill and her family this summer. She now knows that with all of the hours her son Ryan spends on the playground, it only takes a split second for something to go wrong. Just weeks ago he fell while playing on one - and ended up in the hospital with a badly broken leg.

“You just don’t think about stuff like that when you let your kids go play on a playground,” Brill says. We just couldn’t believe that such a small fall caused that much damage.”

Doctors say parents may not be able to avoid the top causes for injuries entirely, but for parents like Brill, keeping a close eye on their kids this summer is the one thing that’s sure to help.