Last week a young girl from the United Kingdom died while playing in a bounce house. The death occurred when a strong gust of wind lifted the bounce house, with the girl inside, into the air sending it soaring a mile away from its original location. Atmospheric science professor John Knox states in a Washington Post article, there are a “documented 64 bounce house accidents due to wind worldwide since 2000” which include 271 injuries and 10 deaths.

Improperly Secured Bounce House Dangers

The importance of bounce house safety is something that cannot be overlooked. This is difficult in the state of Texas because bounce house safety regulation is very weak. Owning and operating regulations are very specific, but the safety portion does not specify how to safely anchor a bounce house to the ground.

Knox’s research shows these accidents occur when a sudden gust of wind lifts a improperly secured bounce house. Knox says “accidents typically occur away from big storms” and wind gust “seemingly come out of the blue.” The unpredictability of these strong wind gusts only further highlight the importance of securing a bounce house safely.  Small whirlwinds and waterspouts have also lifted up bounce house structures.

There are other risks involved when children play in bounce houses. The Academy of Pediatrics published a study in 2012 citing almost 65,000 injuries were reported from 1995 to 2010 in the U.S. That means roughly one injury every 46 minutes nationally. A majority of these injuries were fractures and sprains and 3.4% of injured children were hospitalized. The number of injuries increased 15-fold within the studied time period and the increase was similar to trampoline related injuries.

Bounce house-related child injuries are rising at an alarming rate. It is important to make sure you are using a reputable company with a good history to avoid any accidents that may occur. Be mindful of the weather conditions and never leave children unsupervised when playing in a bounce house.