Bounce House and Inflatable Party Equipment Safety Issues

Bounce houses are safe and fun when used properly. As with any type of equipment used by children, accidents can happen in a bounce house. A hand may fly out and catch someone in the nose resulting in a nose bleed. Or someone might stumble while exiting and take a short tumble to the ground. These are the types of accidents that are part and parcel of childhood.

When bounce houses are misused or improperly monitored more serious problems can arise. Our list of bounce house rules was written to keep mishaps to a minimum and we strongly suggest you read and follow these rules whenever you use a bounce house. Above all never rock a bounce house or inflarable item. They can and will fall over even when securely anchored if their are enough occupants inside running from side to side. Recheck the stakes or sandbags regularly to make sure they are anchoring the bounce house securely. Don't allow children to play around the side of the bounce house with the blower and wind tubes or where electrical cords are in use.

Sometimes a bounce house will deflate while children are still inside. Other than scaring some small children (most find this exciting and want you to do it again), a deflating bounce house shouldn't hurt children. This can happen when a plug gets knocked loose, a breaker blows, or a generator runs out of fuel. If you cannot immediately reinflate the bounce house, reposition a deflated bounce house so that the door is not covered and have children squirm their way out the door. Since many children consider this an extra added adventure, you may have to go in after them to get them to make their way out.

I cannot advise strongly enough that older children, even teenagers, not be allowed to use bounce house equipment unsupervised. I have seen kids do terrifyingly crazy stunts even when an adult is present and monitoring the bounce house or inflatable equipment. Often the idea springs into a young male head (males especially although girls are not immune to pulling dangerous stunts) and instantly it's put into action. Adults usually know which are the more likely candidates at a party to attempt an aerial somesault off a 24 foot high inflatable slide. Lecture all kids on the safety rules and then keep an eagle eye out. If you let them, they will push the envelope until suddenly they've gone too far. Don't be Mr. Nice Guy. You're there to make sure they have fun, but the fun needs to be safe fun. Don't let your party be the party where the star quarterback broke his leg in the middle of football season.

US Consumer Product Safety Commission: Amusement Ride Related Injuries and Deaths in the United States: 2005 Update

There were 4900 i nflatable ride injuries in 2004, compared with 2500 injuries for non-inflatable mobile amusement rides and 3400 injuries for fixed-site amusement rides. There were four fatalities for inflatable rides from 2002 to 2005.

2002 - A 21-year-old male broke his neck and died while jumping in an inflatable bounce.
2003 - A 15-year-old male fell head first off an inflatable obstacle course slide and died of traumatic head injury four days after the incident.
2004 - An 18-year-old male died after he fell on his head from an inflatable slide.
2005 - A 24-year-old female died after falling from a 28-foot inflatable climbing wall and striking her head on the pavement.

There were a total of 12 fatalities for non-inflatable rides of all types for the years 2002-2004 although the years 2003 and 2004 did not have complete records. The average number of fatalities for this type of ride for the years 1987 to 2002 was 4.4 per year.