Trampolines - my DD just got hurt

[RitaZ.]

 

[sha_lyn]

I don't understand why everyone "jumps" (pun intended) on trampolines. Kids get hurt on bikes everyday but you don't hear anyone saying that kids shouldn't have bikes. If parents would make sure the kids followed the rules... Only one person on at at time, and no jumping near the edge... then most injuries would be avoided.

 

[MICKEY88]

the problem with trampolines is the high number of lawsuits due to injury,
last September my son's best friend broke his ankle on a trampoline, he actually broke a growth plate, so this young 14 year old will never be taller, we visited him in the hospital when it happened and he was very depressed, knowing he'd never be any taller,
when I mentioned it at work, I was told that most insurance companies will not insure homeowners with a trampoline, if you deny having one when in fact you do..it's insurance fraud,,the least that can happen is a cancelled insurance policy and trouble getting another company to issue a new policy, the worst would be a cancelled policy and criminal prosecution.... if you deny having a trampoline and a neighbor child gets hurt, you obviously can't place an insurance claim, medical bills could be quite expensive,,the childs health insurance could deny paying, expecting the homeowners to cover the medical bills,,

at that time I also talked to a former High School superintendent, who told me the schoold insurance agent showed up at the school and told them they had to get rid of their trampoline or the schools policy would be cancelled..


I would not buy one unless I was independently wealthy and could assume the risk..

 

[chager]

My friend just purchased one for her kids. When she called the insurance company they told her that they would not cover any accidents on it. They also told her that it usually isn't the person that gets hurt that sues, but that person's insurance company. She has stated that no one but her children are allowed on it. Evidently they are all gymnists so she isn't worried about them too much. We could never have one in our yard because our yard is too steep. Even the swingset people had a rough time finding a level enough spot to set up.

 

[C.Ann]

Originally posted by chager
My friend just purchased one for her kids. When she called the insurance company they told her that they would not cover any accidents on it. They also told her that it usually isn't the person that gets hurt that sues, but that person's insurance company. She has stated that no one but her children are allowed on it. Evidently they are all gymnists so she isn't worried about them too much.

----------------------------------------------------

Even at that she could run into a problem.. If her own children are injured on the trampoline her health insurance company will expect her homeowner's insurance to cover the medical bills and if they won't, she could end up having to pay the bills herself..

 

[DisOrBust]

My Dh is a physical therapist and came home from a sports injury course and we were both amazed at the injuries from tramps. The number one is cervical spine injury. If you land on your head .. your head remains stationary but your body goes in another direction. he could tell you the more scientific explaination but no tramps for my kids..broken bones one thing but spinal cord injuries thats another level. The instructor had example after example for the class of how dangerous.....

 

[JerseyJanice]

I'm so glad they aren't popular in my neighborhood. The boys around here don't seem to know what they're missing because nobody has one.

A few years ago, we went to a barbeque at the home of a friend from DH's childhood. That whole block had trampolines in every yard. I guess they were the rage in that neighborhood.

 

[Samirella]

Originally posted by momof3disneyholics
Wow, I never knew about the insurance thing or how many kids get injured on those things. I was just about to go buy my kids one this weekend, but now I really am going to have to think about it a little bit longer before I decide. Thanks for the info.

I never knew about the insurance, either. My BIL got one a while ago for his six year old and hasn't had any problems. His has a net around it, so maybe that's why or it's different in FL. I guess things have changed since the mid to late eighties when I had mine.

 

[DVC-Don]

Originally posted by momof2inPA
Has anyone heard of an insurance agent driving past a house with a trampoline and threatening to cancel the homeowner's insurance policy? I heard this story, but it was a friend of a friend thing.

We personally inspect every house before we write a policy on it. If we see a trampoline or diving board at a pool, we refuse to write a policy. We also reinspect homes every 3 to 5 years to see what may have appeared.

 

[momof3disneyholics]

Originally posted by DVC-Don
We personally inspect every house before we write a policy on it. If we see a trampoline or diving board at a pool, we refuse to write a policy. We also reinspect homes every 3 to 5 years to see what may have appeared.

Wow, when I was growing up we had a trampoline and a diving board at our pool in my backyard. I wonder how my parents got insured.

 

[summerrluvv]

Originally posted by momof3disneyholics
Wow, when I was growing up we had a trampoline and a diving board at our pool in my backyard. I wonder how my parents got insured.

Obviously times have changed. Back then companies didn't run credit reports to get car insurance either.

 

[snoopy]

I'm old enough to remember having trampolines in gym class at school. 9th grade gym class, in fact. Girls were flying off right and left and doing serious injury, that by 10th grade the trampoline went bye bye. I was so bummed since the trampoline was hands down the funnest thing we ever did in gym class but understand now why they had to take it away.

 

[phamton]

Originally posted by MICKEY88

last September my son's best friend broke his ankle on a trampoline, he actually broke a growth plate, so this young 14 year old will never be taller, we visited him in the hospital when it happened and he was very depressed, knowing he'd never be any taller,

Actually breaking the growth plate is very common in children. It is the weakest part of the bone. I am very surprised that the doctor told the boy he would never grow taller. My daughter broke her growth plate twice, once in her wrist and once in her ankle when she was age 8 years old. I was concerned about growth and my doctor assured me that she would have no problems. She is now 5'9". She broke the bones from horseback riding. We had a trampoline and horses. No one in my family was ever hurt on the trampoline but only on the horses.

I just did a search on growth plate breaks and didn't find any medical sites that seemed alarmed with breaking the growth plate. Most stated that if a fracture occured in children, it usually occured in the growth plate.

"Injury to the growth plate can be minor or severe. Often an injury to the growth plate may not be seen on a x-ray, because the cartilage making up the growth plate is not calcified and therefore seems to be a clear space. A minor injury may be diagnosed on the basis of tenderness (tenderness means a specific spot that hurts when pressed by a nasty probing finger) at the growth plate alone. The more severe the injury, the more likely some growth disturbance will arise after the fracture has healed. This is termed a growth plate arrest, which will usually be detected within nine months of the injury if it happens at all.

Having growth plates has some advantages. Fractures in bones that are growing will correct their own shape ("remodel"). Remodeling simply means that a growing bone, which is deformed, will attempt to straighten itself out over time. The closer the fracture is to a growth plate, the more it can remodel."

 

[bananiem]

We have a friend who's a radiologist and one who's an orthopedic surgeon. Neither one will allow their kids on one. Good enough reason for me to have my kids stay off 'em too.
It's in the way kids fall on them that's the problem, not that there are too many kids on them or that they fall off the sides. Even the ones with walls won't help if the kid lands wrong.

 

[sha_lyn]

It's in the way kids fall on them that's the problem, not that there are too many kids on them or that they fall off the sides. Even the ones with walls won't help if the kid lands wrong.

But most would not be falling "the wrong way" if they were following the rules to being with. There should never be more than one kid on at a time... period. When more than one child is jumping it changes the "landing surface" and that along with bumping into other children is what causes most falls. Many of the broken limbs occur when the child hits the bar around the edge, or hit the ground.


As for breaking the growth plate... Each bone has 2. The child would have to of broken each growth plate in the leg severely for that leg to not grow anymore. Any Dr who told him he would not get taller should be sued and not allowed to practice medicine anymore. The worst case scenario is that the one leg will not grow as much as the other, (it will grow because not all plates were injured)and that he will either have to wear a lift or have corrective surgery. The parents need to find a Dr ASAP that knows what the heck he is doing, so the proper treatment (if any is needed) can begin.


DS has a friend who severely broke a growth plate in the femur. The Dr's estimated the amount of growth that was "arrested" by the break and stretched the brake that amount as it was healing. He has to wear a lift in the other shoe to account of the difference until he stops growing.

 

[missypie]

My kids have a trampoline (with a safety net). Youngest DD is a gymnast and can do remarkable things on it. No other kid gets on it without a written consent/release from their parents.

We were just in Paris and one of the public parks had a fenced in area with 8 trampolines (in 2 rows of 4) that you could jump on for a small fee. Our kids were the only ones there, so they bounced from tramp to tramp and had a great time. BUT CAN YOU IMAGINE a public park in the US having trampolines, with no releases signed, etc.?

I think the insurance thing is just ridiculous since they insure folks with pools (w/o diving boards) all the time. I have no stats, but I bet that home pool drowning deaths exceed home trampoline deaths by a huge amount.

 

[Keli]

My dd Ashli got hurt on a trampoline when she was nine. Her 18 yr. old uncle was standing there watching (to ensure safety) but there wasn't much he could do when she went flying off of the thing. She had a terrible break, it took hours of surgery for the dr. to set the bone and she has a couple of big scars to remind her of that day. She broke her elbow at a growth plate and there was some concern that it might arrest the growth but it did not so we didn't have to take further actions to keep her arms at the same length.

 

[froglady]

Originally posted by bananiem
We have a friend who's a radiologist and one who's an orthopedic surgeon. Neither one will allow their kids on one. Good enough reason for me to have my kids stay off 'em too.
It's in the way kids fall on them that's the problem, not that there are too many kids on them or that they fall off the sides. Even the ones with walls won't help if the kid lands wrong.

Exactly! About a year ago, an INSTRUCTOR landed after a flip and broke his neck, killing himself. Accidents happen, despite our safety precautions. Trampolines are inherently unsafe, as are many other things. There are many people who engage in high risk behavior for their whole lives without any ill effects, and others who get injured/killed/sick early on. I personally don't feel that the benefits of a trampoline outweigh the risks; others will disagree. There are some activities that I enjoy that others would consider too risky.

And as to the drowning versus diving injuries and insurance costs; as crass it it sounds, the insurance company has to pay less if the child dies, versus a lifetime of medical care due to para or quadraplegia.

 

[C.Ann]

Originally posted by missypie
No other kid gets on it without a written consent/release from their parents.

--------------------------------------------------

That's a great idea - but I think a lawyer will tell you that even with a release, you can still be sued should an injury occur..

 

[froglady]

As to the growth plate/permanent shortness question; I'll have to check, but it could be related to the boy's age and maturity, (14 vs 8) and whether he was going through a rapid growth spurt, or perhaps had almost completed his growth, so the plates were already "closing." ie, the healing would not happen quickly enough to compensate for the growth occuring in the non-injured leg (even with "stretching"), and/or he would not be a good candidate for a leg lenghthening procedure due to the plate being too inflexible.

I'll try to get more info, but I have heard of permanent damage before.

I looked it up. It depends upon the type of fracture, location, and age. Some types (type 5 Salter) are very difficult, if not almost impossible, to see on x-ray, but can result in permanent damage that will only be picked up later, and will perhaps require surgery to correct.

Medicine is an ongoing, learning new things by both research and trial and error, profession. I would be surprised if two surgeons ever agree EXACTLY on the BEST course of treatment, which is why second opinions are always a good idea in this sort of situation.