Trampolines may be great fun but they are also a major cause of injuries, writes Sarah Conroy
TRAMPOLINES: children love them but doctors loathe them. They are a major source of entertainment at children's parties and they are one reason why paediatric orthopaedic clinics have become so crowded.
Trampoline stockists have seen a major increase in sales in recent years, while the medical profession has noted more and more injuries occurring due to basic jumping and more perilous high-risk manoeuvres on trampolines and bouncy castles.
According to the most recent study on paediatric trampoline injuries published in the Journal of Paediatric Orthopedics 2007: "In Ireland, we have recently seen a dramatic increase in paediatric trampoline-related injuries mirroring the trend in the United States during the past 10-15 years."
The general perception is that safety netting around a trampoline will prevent accidents, but, according to the Foundation for Spinal Cord Injury Prevention, Care Cure, "netting will not reduce or eliminate crippling injuries and death on the surface of the trampoline itself".
Many accidents involving trampolines occur when children come into contact with others or jump from a garden shed roof, flipping in the air with the aim to land on the trampoline's surface. Hence, the study showed that, from June to August 2005, the trampoline was responsible for causing head and neck injuries to 10 of the 110 children treated at Our Lady's Children's Hospital in Crumlin for trampoline-related injuries, while 55 suffered fractures.
According to consultant paediatric orthopaedic spine surgeon Dr Patrick Kiely of the Blackrock Clinic, Beacon Hospital and Sports Surgery Clinic, Dublin, the most common types of injuries due to trampoline and bouncy castles are "fracture of limbs - primarily upper limbs, cervical spine and head injuries".
He adds that, since 2005, he has "seen a major increase in the number of people presenting as a result of these pieces of equipment".
At birthday parties, traditional entertainment such as pass-the parcel or musical statues have been replaced with magicians, bouncy castles with water slides and trampolines. The question is how many people hosting these parties for 25-plus children adhere to safety guidelines? More importantly, how many of the children's parents are aware that a trampoline or bouncy castle can cause such crippling injuries?
"Accidents abound," says Kiely, "firstly, as a result of multiple children and adults of all different sizes on one device and, secondly, due to lack of supervision." This is supported in the study which "found that more than one individual on a trampoline is a major risk factor for injury, where the lightest person is 14 times more likely to be injured than the heavier".
According to one trampoline manufacturer's guidelines, purchasers are warned that "evidence from published international studies show that multiple-person use of any large trampoline, whatever its size, shape or make, is potentially dangerous and the major cause of accidents on trampolines . . . Only allow one person at a time on your trampoline."
Despite this, the paediatric trampoline injuries study found that 57 per cent of patients treated were on it with at least one other person when the accident occurred.
Since the 2000 Sydney Olympics, when trampolining became officially recognised as an international sport, its popularity has grown throughout the Republic, with children as young as six attending trampoline summer camps.
Darron Costello, manager of Icarus trampoline summer camp, adds that, despite the dangers involved, there are benefits from trampolining. "The sport is fantastic for full body co-ordination . . . while also taxing individual muscles, the legs, the stomach and arms."
However, despite the rise in popularity and dangers involved, there is still no legislation regarding the safety requirements trampolines must meet when sold here.
Six-year-old Samantha enjoys running around with her friends in the school yard. However, for the next month she is confined to a wheelchair and walking frame as a result of an accident that occurred on her 14-inch trampoline, complete with safety netting and padding.
While bouncing on its surface, an awkward fall on her ankle resulted in the breakage of the growth plate at the bottom of the fibula in her left leg.
Many people purchasing trampolines are guided by their instinct and feel safety netting will deter accidents.
However, Samantha's mother Fiona, says: "If I knew then what I know now, we would never have purchased one."
Like many, the trampoline entertained her children's friends, yet since her daughter's accident this has changed. Fiona will now be putting the onus of responsibility on the parents. "My outlook in relation to future usage has changed - when children come to visit, I will be asking their parents if they would prefer their children not to use the trampoline."
In the meantime, with no legislation in place, "the user's safety is up to themselves - to use safety netting, sink the trampoline to ground level, position it on an absorbent surface such as grass, away from obstacles and to always supervise children", says Pauric Dooley, vice-president of Irish Gymnastics.