A ubiquitous staple of children’s birthday parties is prone to tragedy with a simple gust of wind, according to a report that was recently published by researchers at the University of Georgia (UGA).
Bouncy houses, often called bouncy castles, are an affordable and fun way to liven up a child’s birthday party. Anyone with enough yard space can rent a bounce house for the day and let the neighborhood kids celebrate in style.
But bounce houses are often a lurking danger.
Bounce houses catch even light breezes like a sail
Bounce houses can be as dangerous as they are fun. Thousands of children and adults around the world end up seeking medical attention each year as a result of injuries sustained in bounce houses.
A report in the 2013 issue of Health promotion and chronic disease prevention in Canada found that bounce house injuries increased dramatically between 1990 and 2009, with nearly 700 cases nationwide during that 20-year period.
Broken bones and head bonks aren’t the only danger people face in bounce houses. These lightweight, air-filled structures can catch a modest gust of wind and take flight, sending the entire castle soaring into the sky with the unsecured occupants still inside.
UGA researchers documented more than 100 incidents worldwide since 2000 in which high winds resulted in injuries or fatalities to occupants trapped in runaway bounce houses. Investigators were able to identify nearly 500 injuries and more than two dozen deaths as a result of the wind-driven bounce houses.
A particularly horrifying accident took place in Tasmania, Australia on December 16, 2021. A bounce house at a celebration blew away in strong winds with several children inside. The structure flew more than 10 meters into the air before crashing to the ground, killing six children and injuring several others.
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Three weather events responsible for most bounce house disasters
Researchers found that people trapped inside bounce houses aren’t the only ones at risk. People on the ground can be hit or dragged by falling structures, and several incidents have resulted in car crashes, downed power lines and even fires.
A review of weather data found that 70 percent of identified bounce house incidents were the direct result of three specific weather events: thunderstorms, cold fronts and dust devils.
Strong winds that blow ahead of an approaching storm can catch revelers off guard if they aren’t paying attention to the weather. Stormy conditions can also appear suddenly, moving in with the arrival of a cold front.
While dust devils tend to be on the weaker side, these fair-weather whirlwinds can easily throw lawn furniture, canopies, and bounce houses into the air when they sweep an outdoor event.
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Bounce house accidents are preventable on multiple fronts
Broader and more consistent regulations could help keep bounce house users safe when weather approaches threaten.
The researchers reviewed US laws and found that “less than half of US states have explicit statutes and regulations for the use of bounce houses,” according to the study. They added that among the states that regulated bounce houses, “most do not explicitly state the weather and wind conditions necessary for the use of bounce houses.”
Safety and prevention also require basic weather observation and forecast monitoring. Although some small-scale wind events, such as dust devils, are difficult to predict in advance, many strong wind events such as thunderstorms and frontal passages are usually well communicated in weather forecasts.
Several previous studies over the past two decades revealed that nearly half of children who have broken or fractured bones on bounce houses did so with little or no adult supervision.
While it won’t always prevent injury, constant adult supervision of a bounce house can go a long way in mitigating the risk to people in and around these vulnerable structures.
The study authors created a website, WeatherToBounce.comwhich provides safety tips, regulatory information for the United States, and a database of all known weather-related bounce house incidents worldwide since 2000.
Thumbnail image courtesy of Lukas via Pexels.
