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In-line Skating Safety Guidelines
In 1996, more than 58,000 children between the ages of 5 and 14 were treated in hospital emergency rooms for injuries related to in-line
skating. Proper equipment and knowledge can prevent the majority of these injuries. The most common reasons children do not utilize
personal protective equipment (PPE) are inadequate awareness of the injury potential, inadequate resources to rent or purchase equipment,
and the provision of improper fitting or inappropriate equipment. While these reasons may be understandable for individuals, they are
unacceptable for any group sponsored activity. People who do not wear appropriate PPE are at a greater risk of suffering significant injury,
and people who allow children to skate without appropriate PPE are thus acting negligently.
A YMCA skate park should establish the following rules for all users:
EQUIPMENT
All participants should wear properly sized helmets at all times. The helmets should be certified and approved by ANSI, ASTM, SNELL,
or another nationally recognized testing agency. Head injuries are the least common in-line skating injuries, but they are among the
most severe.
All participants should wear elbow pads at all times. Elbow pads provide protection during a sideways fall. One study determined that
over 80% of all elbow-related injuries were the result of no elbow pads.
All participants should wear properly sized wrist protection at all times. Wrist protection should incorporate hard plastic that allows the
skater to slide on impact, thus reducing the force of the impact. The wrist is the most commonly injured body part in in-line skating.
Properly secured kneepads should be worn at all times by all participants. A knee is often the first point of impact dispersion in the
event of a fall. Inadequately secured kneepads often slide down before or come off during a fall, and thus do not provide the intended
protection.
PHYSICAL PREMISES
The entire skate park should be enclosed in a fenced area to restrict access. Over 80% of in-line skating deaths result from the skater
hitting or being hit by a motor vehicle, and isolating the activity basically removes this exposure. It also allows attendants easier
monitoring and greater control. Features and equipment should be disabled with clearly marked cables or by other durable methods
whenever YMCA personnel are not monitoring the site.
If the skate park is open for night use, lighting should be installed in such a way that it does not interfere with a skater’s vision by
temporarily blinding them.
A telephone with clearly posted emergency numbers, or some other communication device should be available to summon assistance.
SKATE PARK ATTENDANT
The attendant should be an accomplished skater who is capable of answering questions about starting, stopping, and turning.
Membership in the National Skate Patrol (NSP) is desirable.
The attendant should be clearly identifiable (e.g., by a YMCA staff tee shirt or other apparel) to anyone in the area.
TERMINOLOGY
aggressive - A type of skating where the emphasis is on stunts, performed either on street courses or specially —built ramps
or pipes.
grind plate - A piece of metal or plastic affixed to the bottom of the skate frame between the middle wheels, which makes
grinding possible.
half-pipe - A U-shaped ramp on which skaters perform a variety of moves.
quarter - pipe - A ramp that is flat at the bottom and curves to form a vertical skating surface.
coping - The upper edge of a ramp where the vertical meets the horizontal hanging, along which one can perform various
tricks.
fakey - The rolling backward down a half-pipe after rolling forward up the half-pipe.
grind - To slide along a rail or other edge, using skate surfaces.
transition - The curved portion of a ramp that connects horizontal and vertical skating surfaces.
vert - 1) Short for vertical, refers to inline skating on ramps and pipes; 2) The part of the riding surface in a quarter
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