Treading warrants critical examination as a fundamental water safety skill, particularly when considering its efficacy across diverse swimming proficiencies. Leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) simulations, this proposal evaluates treading effectiveness compared to backfloating.

Hypothesis: AI-driven simulations can demonstrate backfloating as the most efficient survival technique across varying ages / skill levels.

Rationale:

As a safety skill, treading effectiveness remains inadequately substantiated, with no known statistical evidence supporting its efficacy. Conducting physical experiments poses significant challenges due to individual capabilities variability / IRB approvals. By leveraging AI simulations, we can model / analyze treading performance (modified treading forms) across different profiles, circumventing human research’s logistical / ethical constraints.

Progressive Skill Development in Aquatic Education:

Drawing from motor development theories, it's essential to recognize that aquatic skills are acquired progressively (continuous skill > autonomous stage). Introducing complex skills like treading to those without high water competency encourages the Instinctive Drowning Response (= vertical body position) in difficult / panicked moments, the opposite of the desired horizontal position. Treading is not a discrete skill learned in days / weeks. Treading capability culminates years of refined practice as an automated skill capacity. The harm of learning it prematurely far outweighs any benefit.

Methodology Proposal:

Collaborate with AI specialists to simulate treading water vs. back floating across various profiles, including young children, adolescents, novices, adults. By extensively running these simulations, we can assess energy expenditure/endurance/survival outcomes, circumventing logistical challenges of real-world experimentation.

Anticipated Outcomes:

Simulations reveal that backfloating offers superior energy efficiency / safety compared to treading, particularly for novices / intermediate swimmers. This insight could inform instructional strategies, emphasizing backfloating as a foundational water safety skill.

Conclusion:

Treading has long been utilized as a fundamental skill – but without an evidence basis, we must objectively reevaluate its utility. Treading is the natural progression of extremely high water competency. Emphasizing back floating as the safety position is therefore far safer / developmentally appropriate. By utilizing AI simulations to compare treading / backfloating, we can obtain objective data to guide water safety education. Prioritizing back floating can enhance overall water competency, reduce drowning incidents across diverse populations.

Background: Rock climbing has become an increasingly popular sport in the United States. There is limited research characterizing trends in related injuries occurring in children (5-12 years) and adolescents (13-17 years).

Objectives: To identify trends in the rates of acute rock climbing-related injuries over time and compare injury patterns between age categories and sex.

Methods: The Pediatric Health Information System (PHIS) was queried for patients 5-17 years old from 2010-2023 who presented with rock climbing injuries. Descriptive and multinomial regression analyses were performed to identify injury trends and associations between age categories and sex.

Results: 729 rock climbing injuries were identified (mean age at presentation 10.0 ± 3.4 years; 274 [37.6%] female). Injuries increased from 36 in 2010 to 83 in 2023 and were most common in the Western US. Overall, fractures/dislocations were the most common injury (80.9%), followed by sprains/strains/tears (11.8%) and lacerations/wounds (7.3%). Injuries were most common in the upper extremity (clavicle to wrist) (59.1%); whereas injuries to the hand/fingers were rarer (5.5%). Children presented more often with injuries of the upper extremity, while adolescents presented more commonly with injuries of the lower extremity (67.3% vs. 48.7%; p<0.0001). There were no significant differences between males and females in terms of injury location or injury type.

Conclusion: Rock climbing-related injuries have increased over the past decade and occur more frequently in the Western US. Knowledge of differences in injury locations by age may help inform rock climbing programs in best practices for safety and conditioning regimens to mitigate injury.

Background: Gymnastics is a popular sport among children and adolescents. Identifying trends in injury patterns may help guide injury prevention strategies and counsel patients on risks of gymnastics participation.

Objectives: To identify trends in the rates of acute gymnastics-related injuries over time and compare injury patterns between age categories and sex.

Methods: The Pediatric Health Information System (PHIS) database was queried for patients 5-17 years old from 2010-2023 who presented with gymnastics-related injuries. Descriptive and multinomial regression analyses were performed to identify trends in injury patterns and associations between age, sex, injury location, and injury type.

Results: 9,699 gymnastics-related injuries were identified. Median age at presentation was 10.0 years (IQR 8.0-12.0); 88.16% of patients were female. The rate of gymnastics-related injuries has increased, rising from 571 in 2010 to 876 in 2023. 75.13% of injuries occurred in children ages 5-12. Most injuries occurred in the upper extremity (72.18%); 73.04% of all injuries were fractures. Children ages 5-12 presented more often with fractures, while sprains/strains were more common in adolescents ages 13-17. Overall, injuries of the lower extremity were more common in females, whereas upper extremity injuries were more common in males. While fractures were the most common injury in both sexes, females in both age groups presented more frequently with sprains/strains.

Conclusion: Patterns of gymnastics-related injuries vary by patient age and sex. Knowledge of injury patterns may inform the structure of gymnastics programs and families of pediatric patients participating in gymnastics of injury risks based on patient age and sex.

Background: According to the latest figures from the U.S. Toy Association, domestic toy sales amount to $41 billion per year. Many of these toys expose their users to physical and chemical risks. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) estimates that hospital emergency departments treated 231,700 toy-related injuries in 2023. These data do not include the effects of exposures to toxic substances such as lead, phthalates, phosphates, and phenols, only some of which are subject to federal regulation.

Methods: This study uses congressional records and manuscripts from the U.S. National Archives to historicize public concerns about and efforts to control toxic toys. Comparing two twenty-year periods from 1965 to 1985 and 2005 to 2025, this study unpacks the parallels between current controversies over plasticizers and earlier initiatives to regulate toys with lead paint, sleepwear treated with the flame-retardant Tris phosphate, dolls with contaminated stuffing, etc. This project analyzes government hearings and consumer complaints using archival methods.

Results: The similarities between the toy safety controversies of 1965 to 1985 and the last few years are striking. Experts and laypeople still have trouble assessing the risks of hard-to-detect chemicals and worry about the safety of imports and of toys purchased remotely. The systemic failure to regulate known and suspected product hazards, along with a lack of resources and personnel for enforcement, mean that twenty-first-century consumers are often left to gauge safety for themselves. Access to reliable information about the safety of specific goods, meanwhile, has long been unequally distributed and may not be sufficient to remove unnecessarily risky toys from the market.

Conclusions: The history of toxic toy regulation helps explain how the federal government has tried to protect children over time and underscores the difficulty of controlling the risks arising from long-term, low-level exposures. This work has direct implications for future toy safety measures based on consumer education and state oversight. As far as chemicals are concerned, agencies like the Consumer Product Safety Commission should be authorized to pass stricter product standards, to administer more inspections and recalls, and to explore the option of presale toy testing to keep children and their families safe.

Background: Golf cart accidents have been steadily increasing in the last decade. Previous studies have claimed that >25% of pediatric golf cart related injuries were severe (ISS>15). Our study aims to broaden the epidemiology and describe golf cart related injuries among the pediatric/young adult population from a national database.

Methods: The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) database was retrospectively analyzed for pediatric/young adult golf cart related injuries (<22 years) from 2010 to 2023. Bivariate analyses were used to describe demographic and injury characteristics.

Results: 1419 cases were identified for our analysis which corresponds to the national estimates of 53855 (95% CI:51458, 56253) from 2010 to 2023 by applying appropriate sample weights. Fall from the golf cart (49.79%) was the most common mechanism of injury. Injuries to the head, face and neck regions were most common (44.29%). A majority of the reported injuries occurred in those identified as passengers (38.65%) rather than drivers (10.76%). Collision and cart overturn was the most common sequence of accident (36.12%) with a higher occurrence among adolescents (45.82%) than children (29.19%) and young adults (39.06%) (p<0.0001). Compared to males (23.97%), females had a significantly higher proportion of injuries to the lower extremities (29.11%) (p<0.0001). Superficial injuries accounted for 47.40% and occurred more frequently among males (50.74%) than females (43.64%) (p<0.0001). Children (55.64%) were significantly more likely to be injured from fall compared to adolescents (42.20%) and young adults (46.31%) (p<0.0001).

Conclusion: Most injuries occurred in adolescents due to golf cart collisions and cart overturns. Due to the growing adoption of golf carts as recreational vehicles with low safety parameters has led to an increase in accidents. Hence, this study emphasizes the requirement for establishing age-appropriate safety measures for golf cart usage.