Injuries -and worse- can be avoided by following safeguards. Here are a few guidelines:

1) Limit use to one person at a time and follow age and weight limits recommended on the box or in the instruction manual. The Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends that only children above six years of age be allowed to use a full sized trampoline.

2) Supervise children at all times. It is also a good idea to have other children’s parents present if you allow them to use the trampoline, and check your home-owners policy to see if injuries sustained by guests will be covered.

3) Choose a trampoline that has padded covers over the springs and frame. Landing on springs or hitting the frame injures many people. A “cage” or enclosure around the perimeter is also important, since many injuries are caused by falls. An enclosure doesn’t cost much more and it is well worth it.

4) Disallow stunts such as “flips.” Landing on the head or neck may cause spinal injury, paralysis, or fatality.

5) Never allow anyone to crawl under the trampoline when it is in use. Doing so can cause serious injury to the person below as well as the person using the trampoline.

6) Consider putting up a fence, or locking your existing gate when not at home so neighbourhood children won’t be tempted to sneak into your yard and use the trampoline unsupervised. Ask neighbours to watch out for such activity when you plan to be away.