A new article reminds parents about the dangers their children face on trampolines.

According to the story on Yahoo! Shine, about 1 million people were treated at hospital emergency rooms as a result of trampoline accidents from 2002 through 2011. Of those people, roughly 288,876 — many of them children — suffered broken bones.

“These numbers are an estimate because we pulled data from hospital emergency rooms, which doesn’t account for the number of people visiting urgent care hospitals or not seeking treatment at all,” co-study author Meagan Sabatino said.

I am torn on this.Trampolines are fun, but they ARE dangerous. I have handled multiple cases involving trampoline fractures, including one very serious case which resulted in a child who will never walk correctly again.

I have neighbors with trampolines – do I let my kids play on them?  Yes, but I cringe every time they do.

If your kids are going to play on a trampoline, there are a couple rules you MUST follow:

• No side wall, no jumping. Period – the risk of falling off the trampoline, and the injuries that can result,  is just too great.
• Only one kid jumps at a time. Too many injuries from heads banging together, or kids landing on each other, or just being thrown off balance because the trampoline surface is still rebounding from someone else’s jump.
• NO FLIPS! – as a parent, my greatest fear is a neck/spine injury.  My kids have friends who have taken gymnastics who know how to do flips and do them without incident on trampolines – but not my kids. They have never learned how to do them correctly, and a trampoline is not the place to start.

The American Academy of Pediatrics also advises against letting children play on trampolines.

“Pediatricians need to actively discourage recreational trampoline use,” said Dr. Michele LaBotz, co-author of a 2012 AAP policy statement. “Families need to know that many injuries occur on the mat itself, and current data do not appear to demonstrate that netting or padding significantly decrease the risk of injury.”

Most trampoline injuries (75 percent) occur when multiple people are jumping on the mat, according to AAP. The smallest and youngest participants are usually at greater risk for significant injury, specifically children 5 years old or younger. Forty-eight percent of injuries in this age group resulted in fractures or dislocations.

Those are sobering facts and numbers that all parents should be aware of.

Thanks for reading.
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ZiffLaw Attorney, Esq.
NY and PA Injury and Malpractice Attorney
The Ziff Law Firm, LLP
303 William Street
Elmira, NY  14901
Phone: (607)733-8866
Fax: (607)732-6062
Email: info@zifflaw.com