Report: Trampoline-Related Injuries Soaring Nationwide

By Patricia Del Rio & Joseph Wenzel IV

PHILADELPHIA (CNN) -- While trampolines are soaring in popularity with indoor jumping parks popping up all over the place, Connecticut Children's Medical Center said kids are getting hurt at eye-opening rates.

CCMC said there is an increase in trampoline-related injuries nationwide.

"I think the most interesting difference is the fact that a kid that gets injured at a trampoline park is much more likely to be admitted to the hospital," Dr. Steven Rogers, who is an emergency room doctor at CCMC, said.

Rogers is one of the study's authors. The researchers found there were 7,000 trampoline park-related injuries in 2014, compared to just 580 in 2010. It also noted that in 2014, there were 280 trampoline parks in the United States, far more than the 35 in 2011.

The parks have increased in popularity with five or six new ones opening in the United States every month. Which means an increase in parks leads to an increase in injuries.

"We really do take it very seriously," Marcus Diggle, who is the general manager at Flight Trampoline Park in New Britain, said.
Diggle appreciates the seriousness of the study findings and makes certain his facility keeps an excellent safety record. The facility uses a "flight crew" that acts as an equivalent to lifeguards at a pool to watch out for the kids.

"We have a high ratio of court staff to jumpers, so we don't let kids do double bounces or double flips or things like that, we are constantly looking out for potentially dangerous situations," Diggle said.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommended children not use trampolines, but parents told Eyewitness News trampoline parks are fun and kids have to be kids.

"I think you have to be careful of the place you go, here there is very specific rules about how they jump, there's inherent risk in a lot of things kids do," mother Cay Hosterman, of Cornwall, said. "You can't keep them in a bubble"

Rogers said trampoline parks are fun and he says he recommends parents watch their kids in addition to relying on the park staff, and not letting a big kid jump alongside a little one. The weight difference can spell trouble for the younger child if they collide.

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