At least 479 people have been injured and 28 killed in wind-related bouncy castle incidents in the past two decades, according to a global study.
Researchers from the University of Georgia, United States, collected data on 132 reported incidents involving inflatable amusement devices and wind between 2000 and 2021. Their findings are published in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.
The study’s lead author, Associate Professor John Knox, says there were ten incidents of wind-related bouncy castles in Australia and three in New Zealand. Australia ranks fourth in the number of injured and second in fatalities.
“Of course, this latest statistic is largely due to the Devonport tragedy last December. Devonport is the deadliest incident in the world among the 132 cases in our database,” says Knox.
In Australia, seven fatalities related to two incidents. In December last year, six children died in northern Tasmania after a bouncy castle and bouncy balls went airborne. The other death was an eight-year-old girl in Kapunda, South Australia in 2001.
Incidents involving bouncy castles and wind are only a small subset of the injuries that can occur with these bouncy entertainment devices. For example, there are an estimated 10,000 emergency room visits in the United States each year due to bouncy castle accidents involving injuries such as broken bones, muscle sprains, and concussions.
“The statistics that we saw doing our research, looking at the literature in the pediatric medical community, is that bounce houses are just as dangerous as trampolines,” says Knox.
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Portable inflatable amusement devices, known as bouncy or bouncy castles, bounce houses, magic castles and moon rides, were invented by engineer John Spurlock in 1958. They are a common feature at events involving children such as birthday parties, school parties and carnivals. . Usually made of polyvinyl chloride, nylon, and vinyl, they are inflated with air from motorized blowers and anchored to the ground using sandbags, stakes, or pegs.
The research was carried out over ten years. It involved three key elements: the incidents, the wind or weather conditions at the time, and the relevant regulatory frameworks in the United States.
For about 70% of incidents where a specific weather cause could be identified, cold front passages, dust devils, or storm-related winds were most likely to occur at the time of the event.
Read more: Where does the wind come from?
Of the 132 recorded incidents, more than 20 percent occurred at wind speeds below those considered unsafe by American Society for Testing and Materials standards (the requirements cited by the relevant regulations of 19 US states).
More than a third of the crashes occurred with observed wind speeds between 0 and 20 miles per hour (up to 30 kilometers per hour). Knox says this shows that incidents can occur in situations that people might not consider bad weather.
Researchers have created a web site document their findings and provide information to consumers.
In Australia, there are standards and occupational health and safety rules which relate to the design, configuration, operation and monitoring of inflatable amusement devices, including wind speed control.
