Leap in children injured on trampolines

♦ A craze for trampolining has led to a sharp rise in the number of children suffering injuries, health officials have warned.

Figures show that NHS staff attended an average of three injuries a day at indoor trampoline parks in England last year. They mainly treated broken bones, sprains and ligament damage in a total of 1,181 call-outs.

The increase in injuries has mirrored rapid growth in the number of indoor trampoline venues in the UK, from three in 2014 to around 200 this year. Donna Brailsford, major trauma nurse coordinator at Sheffield Children’s Hospital, told the BBC that the hospital had treated 198 patients with trampoline injuries in the past six months. She said more injuries had occurred at trampoline parks rather than on smaller garden trampolines.

“It is meant to be only one child or adult to each trampoline but I think, because of the greater size of [indoor trampolines], it is easy for children to bounce on to each other through sheer excitement,” she said.