Hospital issues trampoline warning after injuries rise

Worried the number of trauma injuries will increase if kids try to copy trampoline stunts during this summer's Olympics, doctors are warning parents to think twice before buying the backyard equipment.

Pediatric trauma experts are seeing more kids with head injuries and fractured or sprained arms and ankles.

Curtis Lindsay, 16, was having a great time last Sunday, bouncing on the 12-foot trampoline in his backyard. But when Curtis attempted to use the trampoline as a diving board to jump into a swimming pool, he hit the ground, and suffered a fracture in his spine.

His doctor said he was fortunate, because spinal cord injuries can lead to paraplegia.

Curtis had words of warning for potential daredevils. "Don't do it ... Once something like this happens it's not fun anymore, because I can't do nothing...My summer is ruined," Curtis told a news conference organized by the Montreal Children's Hospital on Thursday.

• FROM SEPT. 21, 2000: Sharp increase in trampoline injuries: report

Trampoline safety tips from Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario

Provide adult supervision, ideally four spotters. Restrict use to one person at a time. Limit access to children aged seven and older. Don't jump onto the trampoline from another object. Avoid somersaults and other manouvres. Cover the edges with a safety pad. Add a surrounding net.

So far this summer, the hospital's staff has treated 40 kids injured on trampolines, up from a total of 35 for the whole of last year. Almost all of the injuries happened when there weren't any parents around to supervise.

"Manufacturers say you can't jump more than five feet, [and] you can't be more than one person on a trampoline, but that doesn't happen," said Dr. Thierry Benaroch of the department of pediatric orthopedics at the Children's Hospital.

In 1997, the hospital issued a major alert after a teenager died from a severe head injury after playing on a trampoline.

"Based on the type of injuries we are seeing we do not recommend its use as a backyard activity," said Debbie Friedman, head of the hospital's Child & Adolescent Trauma Program.

People need to understand trampolines are a piece of gymnastics equipment, not a toy, said Ethel Archard of the Canada Safety Council. Trampolines need to be treated with respect, but shouldn't be banned, she added.