When they compared the kinds of injuries jumpers received at trampoline parks to those received on home trampolines, they found that the trampoline park injuries were more likely to require hospital admission, though they were less likely to involve head injuries.
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After analyzing emergency room reports from a national database, researchers at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center found the number of ER visits for trampoline park-related injuries skyrocketed from less than 600 in 2010 to almost 7,000 in 2014. She said that she sees a substantial number of kids getting hurt in trampolines, and they suffer from abrasions, lacerations, sprains, fractures, and head and neck injuries.
Some of the most serious injuries included skull and open leg fractures and spinal cord trauma, according to study author and pediatrician Kathryn Kasmire of Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.
“I don’t think parents realize how significant the injuries can be or how frequently they occur”, Katherine Leaming-Van Zandt, an emergency medicine physician at Texas Children’s Hospital, told NPR.
Home trampolines have always been recognized as a potential hazard, and the American Academy of Pediatrics advises parents against buying them. It also noted that in 2014, there were 280 trampoline parks in the United States, far more than the 35 in 2011.
As the number of trampoline parks have increased more than 10 fold in the USA, researchers are concerned injuries could continue to rise.
Using data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance, researchers found that emergency room visits for trampoline park injuries ballooned from just 581 in 2010 to 6,932 in 2014. Children under the age of 6 made up nearly half of those with fractures, specifically lower extremity fractures, at the trampoline parks. On top of those 6,900-plus ER visits two years ago, there are thousands more injured after using home trampolines.
When Steele was touring trampoline parks around the country in hopes of starting his own, numerous facilities “just took your money and let you loose”, Steele said.
Rogers said trampoline parks are fun and he says he recommends parents watch their kids in addition to relying on the park staff, and not letting a big kid jump alongside a little one.
For trampoline parks, like Defy Gravity in Wilmington, manager Lauren McCallum said safety is their number one priority. “TPIs are an emerging concern; additional investigation and strategies are needed to prevent injury at trampoline parks”.
Safety guidelines vary from park to park, with some limiting the number of jumpers per trampoline and discouraging flips and somersaults while others allow them.
Every year, an average of 92,000 people were injured on trampolines.
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Meanwhile, Kasmire mentioned that parks have done a good job in making sure that youngsters do not fall of trampolines. Trampoline park injuries made up 11 percent of all 2014 ER visits for trampoline injuries where the location was known. Bottoms, who lives in Owasso, Okla., says she fully understands that trampoline parks carry risks.
