BY JANET WETZEL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Research from the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) in Washington, D.C., shows that in-line skating accidents sent 98,414 people to hospital emergency rooms in 1997. Of those, 60 percent were ages 5 to 14.
An estimated 48,186 people were treated for skateboarding injuries in 1997 -- 51 percent were ages 5-14.
In 1994, 75,994 people were treated for in-line skating injuries and 25,486 with skateboarding injuries.
In Cincinnati, 275 in-line skaters and skateboarders were treated in 1996 just at Children's Hospital Medical Center, said Jim Feuer, hospital spokesman.
A study released in 1997 by Dr. Eric Wall, director of sports medicine at Children's, shows that 46 percent of all children treated there for in-line and skateboarding accidents had fractured wrists -- easily avoided with wrist guards, experts say.
Jennifer Koehn with the National Safety Council said wrist guards are essential. But helmets, elbow and knee pads are equally important, she said.
