Trampoline Injuries Spark Legislation in Utah and California to Heighten Safety Standards
ByAs trampoline injuries continue to rise, Utah and California are becoming stricter on their recreational usage, CBS News reported.
A report last Sept. from the American Academy of Pediatrics found evidence of shin, chest, ankle, spinal, head and neck injuries that could result in brain damage. It discouraged the recreational use of trampolines at home and at public parks.
In 2009 alone, according to the report, children between the ages of 0 and 7 were found to sustain trampoline injuries at a rate of 70 in 100,000. That rate jumped to 160 per 100,000 in kids aged 5 to 14, totaling 98,000 injuries per year.
Stephen Merrill's injury is one that underscores these public regulations to trampoline safety. He was just finished with his freshman year of college two years ago when he launched himself into the air toward a pit of foam blocks. He was at an indoor trampoline park with some friends just to have fun. He landed head first in the pit and shot straight to the bottom, breaking vertebra in his neck after hitting the floor. He is now paralyzed from the neck down.
"Anything where something like that can happen, I mean, it's such a devastating injury," the 22-year-old Merrill told the Associated Press of his mishap in Provo, Utah. "It doesn't seem like things are properly regulated if something like that is possible."
Trampoline gym operators said safety fears are taken out of proportion and injuries in organized sports like baseball, basketball, football and soccer are more common.
Trampoline gyms require customers to sign waivers before allowing them to use the facilities. Gyms also have lifeguard-like figures watching over people's safety.
Emergency room doctors do not believe that is enough to outweigh the severity of some potential injuries.
"You'll see a lot of these very severe, open wounds that you don't see unless you're in a high-velocity type of injury," Dr. Craig Cook, trauma director at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center. "This is like a war type of injury or a motor vehicle crash."
The Utah County Health Board is considering proposals that would require gyms to supervise activity, report injury rates and warn jumpers beyond having them sign a waiver form.
"We do feel like we have an obligation to inform the public about safety risks out there, especially when it's just open to general public," said Dr. Joseph Miner, executive director of the Utah County Health Department.
Utah's proposals are inspired by legislation currently pending in California. The bill would require insurance, employee training and injury reporting, as well as create an inspection program similar to that of an amusement park.
The legislation was promoted by a woman in Coronado whose 30-year-old son died days after sustaining a neck injury on a trampoline.