4 Key Bounce House Safety Rules
From the moon bounce to inflatable slides, what to know before you let kids jump in
Few kids can resist a bounce house, those “moon bounce” inflatables that pop up at birthday parties and carnivals, and it's easy to see why. It's also easy to see how all the bouncing around could lead to injuries.
In 2012 and 2013, about 18,000 people each year were injured on inflatable amusements according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Arm and leg injuries are the most common type of injury, and kids ages of four and 15 are most likely to get hurt, the CPSC says.
So as your
kids tear off their shoes and make a beeline for that colorful castle, keep these four
safety rules for bouncy houses in mind.
Related: Are Indoor Trampoline Parks Safe?
1. Let kids bounce according to age and size. Don’t let a four-year-old enter a
house full of teenagers, advises the child safety group
Kids in Danger.
2. Make sure the house is securely anchored to the ground. This goes for party hosts as well as
parents allowing their kids to jump. All
four corners should be staked into the ground and
weighted down, Vince Pivlo, owner of
Laff & Grinn Amusements, told
CBS New York. Most manufacturers recommend
deflating them when winds are 20 to 25 miles per hour
or higher, Ted Amberg, CEO of Amberg Entertainment in Missouri,
told CNN.
A recent news story highlights the importance of this last recommendation. A 7-year-old girl in England died when
a “fun fair” bouncy house she was in blew away in sudden high winds. Two
people were arrested on suspicion of manslaughter by gross negligence as a
result, the
Chicago Tribune
reports.
Related: Splash Parks:
Keeping Kids Safe in Iffy Waters
3.
Watch your child constantly. In New
Zealand last summer, a young boy fell through a hole in a bouncy house and
became trapped in the netting underneath. His father
told Yahoo! News that no one could hear the
boy screaming, but since he had been watching, he knew his son was trapped and
was able to save him.
4.
Beware the deflating bouncy house. A house can deflate unexpectedly if a
cord is accidentally unplugged or if power is lost. When that happens, people can become trapped inside under the falling folds of
material. In 2013, three toddlers in Washington were trapped in a bounce house
when a generator ran out of gas and the inflatable began deflating, according
to
ABC News. Luckily, they were all rescued and
unharmed, thanks to a 10-year-old girl who saved them.
A note about regulation
The federal government doesn’t
regulate inflatable amusements such as bounce houses. ASTM International, an organization that
establishes standards for a wide range of products, developed safety standards
for them around 2004, but adherence to those regulations is voluntary, Len
Morrissey, one of the group’s directors for standards development,
told PBS.
It’s worth noting that while inflatable
amusement injuries have risen over the past decade, according to the CPSC bounce houses are still safer than other playground equipment, such as
skateboards, which were tied to 114,000 injuries in 2012.
Related: Don’t Let Your Child Scoot His Way Into the Emergency Room
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