5784

"THE HEART OF THE MATTER"
a special program of the National Emergency Medicine Association (NEMA)

Week: 578.4

Guest: Ron Hazelton, House Doctor, Home & Garden TV

Topic: Kids' playsets

Host/ Producer: Steve Girard

NEMA: Is your kids' playset safe?...coming up...

SPOT: NEMA...the National Emergency Medicine Association...fights our worst health enemies - heart disease, stroke, trauma. Call 800-332-6362.

NEMA: Time to spruce up that playset you got for the kids last year...or maybe a few years ago...with us today is the home improvement editor for ABC's Good Morning America, Ron Hazelton....

HAZELTON: Make sure the wood does not have sharp edges on it, it doesn't splinter easily. Ideally I'd like to see all the bolts kind of sunk so that they don't pertrude. And take a, especially this time of year, if it's an older set, one that's been around for awhile, take a hammer and a wrench and go over that play set and drive all the nails that have kind of popped up down below the surface and tighten any loose bolts.

NEMA: And if you're buying or building a new playset...

HAZELTON: You want to check the spacing between the ballusters, those vertical por, those vertical sort of post on the railings. You want to make sure that they are spaced closely enough so that a child can not get their head thru them.

NEMA: Other tips from Ron Hazelton, get a slide that is fiberglass or plastic...because metal gets pretty hot...and make sure it flattens out for a stretch before it ends, to give kids a chance to slow down before it ends. I'm Steve Girard at The Heart of the Matter.