abrasions due to Ga Ga ball

[JaClasse]

Are any of you at camps that have "ga ga" ball as an acitivity? If so, are you seeing a lot of campers with scraped knuckles? Ours is played on cement and the younger campers frequently misjudge the distance of their hand to the pavement and are getting scraped up. My understanding is that the game does not play well on grass or dirt (I'm not sure dirt would be any better...just dirtier wounds). Are any of your camps using an alternative surface, and if so...what?

[campmonkey]

Our campers also play "gaga ball". Our camp is not in session yet but last year I had quite a large number of foot injuries from kids playing without their shoes on but no knuckle injuries. Our campers play on grass or grass/mud last summer with all the rain we had. And as you suggested, the playing in the dirt idea does only make wounds harder to clean. I don't know anything about the game so I can't really be usefull when it comes to suggesting a different playing surface but just wanted to let you know that you're not the only one dealing with "gaga ball" injuries.

[JaClasse]

Thanks. I'm not sure how the game is played either. I do know that they want the ball to be able to bounce. And, I do know that the kids absolutely love it. It's one of the more popular activities at camp. Even after being injured, they go back for more! (game, that is :) )

[SnowbirdRN]

i've never heard of this game! One game we have that I cringe at though is the ball tied to the pole.. SO many injured fingers..

[Neveranurseagain, RN]

We have a sand pit that GaGa is played in. It is octagon shaped, and enclosed with a 2 1/2 foot wooden wall. The scrapes are pretty minor (I used to be the nursing director of an extreme sports camp that would see 50 plus scrapes/lacerations a day, plus 1-2 fractures and an kid helicoptered out 1-2 times a month) and I just have the kids wash up at the sink and dress them prn. Pretty minor stuff.

[JaClasse]

Thank you all for your responses. I think we got the problem solved (at least it is much improved). For the first 2 sessions, when we were seeing a lot of knuckle injuries, they were using a volleyball. They have since switched to a large rubber ball. They still get the bounce that the kids desire, but the kids don't have to get their hand so low to the ground. We have had very few injuries since.

[LeeTrainor]

Knuckle injuries should never be dismissed as pretty minor stuff. Infections around the bone should be a major consideration I encourage the kids to wrap their knuckles with bandanas. I see a future in Ga Ga Ball PPES.

[Alex Egan, LPN, EMT-B]

99% of knuckle injuries are quite minor. The other 1% will present with other worrying symptoms, that should jump out to the nurse on duty. I have never and never expect to be overly worried about the abundance of GAGA scrapes. There are quite a few GAGA related injuries though I agree.

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