Treadmills Can Injure Kids

The tragedy that befell Mike Tyson's family after his daughter suffered fatal injuries while playing on a treadmill should prompt us to look for risks around the house. Treadmill-related injuries to kids are not uncommon, but most are minor. The Baltimore Sun reports that "almost 5,500 youngsters under age 5 were treated in emergency rooms in 2006 and 2007 for treadmill-related injuries, according to statistics from the Consumer Product Safety Commission." While, most of the children only had "cuts, bruises and scrapes, primarily on the hands or fingers; one child's injury required an amputation. Thirty-two percent had their hands caught in or on the treadmill, in some cases suffering serious friction burns."