Wednesday, April 18, 2007

5 reasons why trampolines are dangerous...


1: Once when I was jumping, one of my legs went between the springs.

2: The little girl across the street fell off our trampoline and got a bloody nose.

3: My friend fell off and hit his head on a rock.

4: Another friend did a flip, and hit his face on the metal bar... knocking his tooth through his lower lip.

5: I did a move where you raise up on your hands and kick your feet straight up... and I broke my elbow.

Even after I got the cast removed, I couldn't straighten my elbow all the way out for months. We still have the evil trampoline, but no one has used it in a long time... I wonder if those "net" things they put around them now make them any safer?

Trampoline Injury Facts
According to the American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS), 246,875 medically treated trampoline injuries occur annually in the U.S. Of this total, 186,405 of these injuries occurred among children aged 14 or younger.

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) hospital emergency room-treated trampoline injuries almost tripled in the last decade - from an estimated 37,500 in 1991 to almost 100,000 in 1999.

The commission has received reports of 11 deaths relating to trampoline use from 1990 to 1999. Those victims ranged in age from 3 to 43. Six were between the ages of 12 and 19.

Falls off the trampoline often resulted in crippling injury and/or death including paralysis from spinal cord injury. Somersaults and coming into contact with other persons on the trampoline's surface likewise resulted in many serious and crippling injuries as well as death.

Nearly two-thirds of trampoline injury victims were children 6 to 14 years of age.

About 15% of trampoline injuries involved young children under 6 years old.

In 1999, injuries to the leg/foot were reported most frequently, accounting for 40% of the total. Injuries to the arm/hand accounted for 29% of the total, head/face/neck accounted for 20%, and shoulder/trunk were associated 10% of the total.

Approximately 4% of all trampoline emergency-room treated injuries result in hospitalization.

Most trips to the emergency room are the result of jumpers colliding with one another, falling on the trampoline springs or frame, falling or jumping off the trampoline, or attempting somersaults and stunts.

13 comments:

Nikki Neurotic said...

I used to love those things, but yeah, they are dangerous...even with the netting there's still a pretty big risk. luckily all the times I've been on one, no one's been hurt.

BTW, my dad broke his elbow once...he fell off his bike while trying to race me. He's not gotten on a regular bike since.

Moonbeam Baby said...

I can't blame your dad for that... breaking your elbow hurts!

Anonymous said...

I totally agree! Traditional style trampolines are responsible for an unacceptable amount of injuries each year. However there is a safe alternative! Springfree Trampoline offers a revolutionary design which is statistically 99% safe as opposed to traditional style trampolines which are only 1% safe. To see for yourself log on to www.springfreetrampoline.com.au - you will be impressed.

Cheers
Jared Bennett
Marketing Coordinator
Springfree Trampoline Australia

Moonbeam Baby said...

Thanks for the info Jared... I'll check out the website.

dmarks said...

We did used to play with lawn darts as kids. Remember those?

Moonbeam Baby said...

Hmm... lawn darts? It's not ringing any bells. What are they?

Sebastien Millon said...

Growing up, I was always jealous of that 'one' kid in my class who had a trampoline... but now that I'm older, I'm glad I wasn't given more opportunities of jumping on a trampoline... I tend to be a little reckless by nature as things stand!

Thankfully none of your injuries was disabling. Wow, it's frightening to think of that, getting paralyzed or some such thing, especially for a child, how terrible.

Moonbeam Baby said...

I know...
Trampolines are a lot of fun, but they can also be really dangerous.

My older brother is a little reckless too. He once did a flip off our back deck onto the trampoline. Our deck is over 20 feet high, so it was a pretty risky move.

Unknown said...

had a look at those springfree ones (link posted earlier) - they really look totally great, and not dangerous at all.

Good post... :)

Moonbeam Baby said...

Thanks ~
I looked too, and the Springfree Trampoline does look a lot safer.
It's pretty cool.

The Estrogen Files said...

And yet, they're EVERYWHERE! And my kids keep ASKING for them! I have a friend with one and they buried it in the ground up to the rim - the kid steps on from the ground, no rising up involved!

Moonbeam Baby said...

Hey, I never thought of burying it!
That would make it a lot safer... at least you wouldn't fall as far.

Anonymous said...

I'ts soooo satisfing that others know how dangerous tramps are!!! It's such a scary thought that all of these things could happen! I used to always want one cause we had one at gymnastics, but now i know that those things are cursed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!