Two children hurt on same Wahpeton school slide

• Slippery Slide

The first child reportedly fell off the slide and hit the bottom part. She was Lifeflighted to Fargo. The other girl was pushed while playing and required stitches.

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New playground policies are in place at Wahpeton Public Schools after two girls are injured on the same slide. The accidents happened within a week of each other in early December.

When she heard two kindergarteners were injured on the same six foot tall slide at Zimmerman Elementary School, Ginny Buck-a mother of three-immediately empathized with the parents.

Ginny Buck - Parent: "Concern for the child and the safety of the rest of the children that would be using the playground.

The first child reportedly fell off the slide and hit the bottom part. She was Lifeflighted to Fargo. The other girl was pushed while playing and required stitches. Both children sustained head injuries and are now back in school.

Rick Jacobson – WPS Superintendent: "That's been the frustrating part because if you just watch them going at normal use, you'd say how could it happen."

Superintendent Rick Jacobson says the company that sold the equipment found nothing wrong with the slide.

Rick Jacobson: "It all meets manufacturer inspections and installation inspections."

But officials have reviewed playground safety rules with students, even creating a video demonstrating proper play. School aides will also get CPR and AED training. Also, a principal in the district will take a class in playground safety inspection.

Normally there are up to 50 kids on this playground with two aides roaming the grounds, but now one of those aids will remain by the slide making sure kids use this equipment properly.

Right now, Jacobson does not plan to remove the slide.

Rick Jacobson: "If you went around and looked at every other playground in town here I would be willing to bet you'd find the same type of slide."

Ginny Buck: "Our children are not always perfect angels when they're out at play so it just happened and it's unfortunate that it happened to be two on the same playground."

Faculty and parents just hope it doesn't happen again. The school's insurance company has contacted both families.

Tags: k-12 education, rachel lake, news, wahpeton, reporters, updates