Trampoline Safety

Easy ways to keep kids safe while they bounce

By Diana Swift

Now that trampoline is an official Olympic sport, more kids may show interest in getting the bounce—and related injuries look poised to jump. According to the Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program, trampoline trauma nearly quadrupled over the 1990s, and by the end of July of last year, the Montreal Children’s Hospital had admitted 40 kids with trampoline injuries, compared with a total of 35 for the spring, summer and fall of 2003. When one teen used his as a launching pad into an aboveground pool, the momentum drove his head so hard into the bottom of the tank that he broke vertebrae in his back. Less creative ways to get injured include colliding with other jumpers, landing on the springs or frame and bouncing off onto the ground. The Canada Safety Council advises: one person at a time; no flips or somersaults; no strings or jewellery to snag on springs; covering for all hooks and exposed frame parts.

More in Health and Fitness, Toddler, Tween and Teen
Turn Nightmares into Sweet Dreams

A technique called imagery therapy is helping kids reduce the...

Close