The chief of emergency medicine at the IWK describes a significant increase in injuries since the opening of a trampoline park in Dartmouth.
The business owner does require everyone who jumps to sign a waiver, but one person who’s suffering from five broken bones says it’s still dangerous.
“Whatever I hit was so hard, I knew instantly that I was hurt, like big time,” explains parent Natalie Langley.
Langley was jumping there with her children a week and a half ago, when she says she broke five bones in her feet.
She admits she signed a waiver but says that doesn’t change the fact she’ll be laid up for at least six weeks.
“We’re certainly seeing lots more injuries since the trampoline park opened,” says IWK Chief of Emergency Medicine Dr. Shannon MacPhee.”
Dr. MacPhee says she’s seen a lot of trampoline injuries, not just at the park.
“I’ve seen a lot of broken legs, that’s probably the most common thing that we see,” she explains. “The tib or fib are the two most commonly broken bones. You can break your femur. We’ve seen broken collar bones, broken bones in your arm, pretty much every bone in your body.”
The Canadian Pediatric Society recommends that no one uses trampolines under any circumstance, but Child Safety Link at the IWK recognizes some will use them anyway and suggests only children over the age of six jump.
“If they are going to be, they do recommend one person on at a time,” explains Chantal Walsh, who’s with IWK Child Safety Link, “and to stay away from the barrier around it.”
Get Air says there is no age limit on who can jump, although the smallest children play in a separate area.
In a statement the general manager tells CTV News:
“Safety is our #1 priority at Get Air Indoor Trampoline Park. We post strict rules throughout our park and have safety lifeguards on staff. We ask customers to know their limits and follow all rules.”
Melanie Aucoin has taken her five-year-old to the park several times, and says it’s a great place to play.
“There’s instructional videos on what you should do, what you shouldn’t do,” she says. “There’s also signs everywhere, don’t do this, don’t do that. Obviously with anything, it’s do something at your own risk, but honestly with exercising common sense I think that everybody would be okay.”
But Natalie Langley says she won’t be taking her kids back to the trampoline park.
“I just feel that until there are more safety regulations put in place,” Langley says. “It’s not worth the risk right now.”
She says she was following the rules, but still got hurt.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Kayla Hounsell
