Treadmill accidents occur all the time due to a lack of adherence to safety regulations. It is important to learn the proper way to use an exercise machine.
Even former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson's daughter, four year old Exodus, died after her neck got caught in an exercise machine cord. She was found by her seven year old brother with the cord that hangs from a treadmill console wrapped around her neck.
After the accident involving strangulation, her mother tried to revive her with CPR while they waited for paramedics to arrive at their home. Then, the girl was taken to a local hospital where she was immediately placed on life support before she died the next morning.
Treadmill accidents are not uncommon and they can usually be avoided. Most of the time the accidents occur because children are playing with equipment unsupervised.
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission reports that every year, at least 2,600 kids are injured in treadmill accidents that end up in US emergency rooms. In Philadelphia alone, 12 children were injured in treadmill accidents in 2001, six of which involved getting their hands stuck in the exercise machines' belts.
These injuries were serious enough to require reconstructive plastic surgery so that they could open up their hands. This tragedy could have been avoided with proper supervision and recognition of safety rules.
There have also been reports that mention hard edges, moving equipment and the programmed speeds of a treadmill can lead to unexpected injuries to victims. Many researchers have said that modifying treadmill designs to make them more difficult to start and easier to stop could prevent some of these accidents from happening so frequently.
Treadmills are not alone, however, as many other forms of exercise equipment lead to injuries of children and adults as well. Approximately 25,000 children under the age of 14 are injured on exercise equipment every year.
Some 8,700 of these accidents involve kids younger than the age of 5. Also, stationary bikes and stair climbers are two other kinds of equipment that have been causing injuries to children.
It has also been found that amputations and fractures make up 20% of minors' injuries caused by exercise equipment. Though there are many safety precautions that parents can take to protect their children from getting injured on a treadmill or any other kind of exercise equipment, it is still the responsibility of the manufacturers to make sure their products are safe without any design defects or manufacturing flaws that could cause injury or death if the equipment malfunctions.
Warning of any potential hazards that could arise must be included with the product at the time of its delivery to the customer. It is important to review all the information that comes with and on the machinery.
Once the pamphlets and instruction manuals have been read, it is important to review the safety regulations with your children and family to make sure they all understand how to protect themselves from danger. If those rules are followed and the machines are used properly and with caution, then they should be safe for everyone and a source of excellent exercise.
You should always be careful when entering and exiting the machines as that is when many accidents and unexpected results occur. This should be a careful time for all who use such machines.
Often times music that you may listen to while exercising can distract you, so make sure it is not too loud to think through everything clearly. Also, this is a simple rule, but you should be sure to not get casual about the rules that are listed for your safety in or on the treadmill.
Simply perform things the way they were meant to be performed. This will enhance the life of the machine as well as your own while yielding you the best results.
It is also very important to make sure that children are always heavily supervised when around such large and powerful machinery. Make sure that they cannot access the exercise equipment without an accompanying adult.
If there is someone with the children at all times, they are much less likely to be injured due to improper use. If all rules are obeyed, the machines can prove to be a safe means of working out.
Author Resource:-
Ronald Pedactor has worked in the exercise and health industry for 31 years. When searching for a good deal on exercise equipment he suggests getting someone knowledgeable to compare treadmills, and tell you their qualities.
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