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Friday, January 02, 2009

inflatable bounce house safety

DOCS WEIGH IN ON INFLATABLE BOUNCER SAFETY

A recent study by the Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles, California has revealed some concerns for parents regarding Inflatable Bounce House Safety. A 4 ½ year study of over 4,000 children seen in their Level I Trauma Center has indicated that slight more than 1% of all children seen for trauma related injuries. 74% of the injured children were male and the average was 7.8, with the age range 1.5-15. Over 1/3 of the injured children were between seven and nine years old.

Of the injuries being treated 2/3 of them involved the upper extremities with the most common body part injured being the elbow and humerus. A third of the injuries involved the lower extremities. Of the injuries the most common was a simple fracture.

43% of those families reached during the survey said the injuries occurred on a rented device in their backyard. Of the families contacted, adult supervision was absent in almost half of the incidents. The average age of the children in the device at the time of injury was 5.4. Over half of the incidents involved children of mixed ages. The most common types of injuries involved a collision of two or more children and a child falling out of the device.

The study concluded that inflatable bouncers can cause serious orthopedic injuries. The entire study can be found at the American Academy of Pediatrics publication AAP Grand Rounds.

Since 2001 the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s report and subsequent Safety Bulletin the industry has known injuries are increasing on inflatable bounce devices. Basically there is no or very limited oversight in regulating bounce house safety. The industry does have a set of consensus standards in conjunction with the American Society for Test & Materials F-24 Committee. However these are basic guidelines that are a good start and could use improving. The two most reported causes of injuries on inflatable devices are improper set-up and unattended devices.

Oversight at the local level is the best solution. Proper licensing, insuring, permitting and inspection by the local authority is the best way to go. Additional safeguards would be compliance with applicable industry consensus standards that involve all aspects of inflatable operation, ensuring a trained and competent operator (some devices require 2 or more operators) is present during set-up, operation and take-down and a national reporting system or clearing house for inflatable incidents.

For Parents, Do Not assume you can safely attend your child while using an inflatable. Insist as industry standard do, that a trained operator is present at each device. Make sure the devices you rent or patronize are properly insured, licensed and inspected. Your Homeowner’s insurance policy does not cover you. Research the company you are going to do business with, you and your child’s safety may depend on it. The majority of inflatable company owners want your business as this industry has sky rocketed the past few years and they have a large investment in your fun filled experience. FYI, they may operate out of their home or warehouse district. Some even offer pick up service at a cheaper rate. If they are professional they will insist on handling the set up, operation, take down and provide a professionally trained attendant.

Ken Martin

KRM Consulting

Richmond, Virginia USA

Resources:

http://www.saferparks.org

http://www.cpsc.gov

http://aapgrandrounds.aappublications.org/

http://www.rideaccidents.com

http://www.astm.org/COMMIT/COMMITTEE/F24.htm

http://www.sioto.org/