Trampoline Safety Review Welcomed: 9000 Kids Hospitalized Per Year Isn't Okay 1

Trampoline Safety Review Welcomed: 9000 Kids Hospitalized Per Year Isn't Okay

Springfree Trampoline welcomes the New South Wales Minister for Fair Trade's review into trampoline safety.

Virginia Judge has ordered a NSW Product Safety Committee review into the safety of backyard trampolines.

The review will consider the mandating of the Australian Trampoline standard which is currently voluntary and making safety enclosures a requirement.

Springfree Trampoline Marketing manager Kristen Hill says with an estimated 10 16 thousand Australian children presented to emergency departments annually from trampoline injuries, this inquiry is critical.

"At Springfree Trampoline we've been working tirelessly for 5 years to make backyards safer. Traditional spring-based trampolines cause a staggering number of injuries".

"Children are injured falling into the springs and frame of traditional trampolines, or falling off or into rigid enclosure poles we have removed these elements completely from our design effectively removing the risk of equipment induced injuries".

Springfree Trampoline removes dangerous injury causing features from its design Springfree Trampoline is recognized with an Australian International Design Award from Standards Australia, for removing the impact zones associated with traditional trampolines. The design objective was to deliver superior trampoline safety, allowing the developmental benefits of trampoline jumping while removing the hazards of the traditional design, thus reducing the associated risks.

"Imagine if a major car manufacturer sold a product to which you could directly attribute at least 9,000 injuries per year? It would be banned no questions asked. We hope this is the first step towards creating a formal mandated trampoline standard in Australia ensuring consumers are protected from unsafe products".

Springfree Trampoline is available for image opportunities Sunday 18th October at the Teddy Bears Picnic @ The Children's Hospital at Westmead

For more information please contact
Kristen Hill
Ph. 0432 693 929,
[email protected]
www.springfree.com.au

Estimates for Emergency Department Presentations of Trampoline Injuries in Australia

Queensland Injury Surveillance Unit (QISU) in 2000 estimated the injury rate for trampolines to be 158 injuries per 100,000 in the 5 to 14 year old age bracket.

This injury rate was estimated to be similar in 2003 by Assoc ProfJim Nixon , at the University of QLD.

Given that the population of Australia in 2008 was 21,779,100, assuming the rate per 100,000 is similar in 2008 and given that the estimated proportion of the population under 15 is 19.6% [3], this leads to 6745 ED department presentations per year nation-wide for 2008.

This figure may be somewhat low. QISU estimated a rate of 15 injuries per 1000 trampolines in Queensland . Manufacturers estimate that the annual sales of trampolines in Australia to be close to 120,000. The ITIA (International Trampoline Industry Association) believe trampolines now average a life of about 5 years. This would lead to 5 x 120,000 = 600,000 trampolines in Australia at any one time. At the rate estimated by QISU this would result in 9000 ED presentations per year.

In the US the rate of injuries per 1000 trampolines has been estimated from the NEISS (National Electronic Injury Surveillance System) database and manufacturer's information from ITIA [5] at 27 injuries per 1000 trampolines, almost twice that of Australia. If this was true for Australia it would lead to 16200 ED presentations per year. This also suggests the Australian estimate by QISU may be low.

SOURCE: Springfree Trampolines