The death of a 30-year-old man who broke his neck in a fall at a Phoenix trampoline park highlights the safety issues and lack of regulations covering these popular indoor venues.

More than a half-dozen indoor trampoline parks have sprouted in metro Phoenix over the past few years, attracting energetic children and young adults seeking an outlet for fun and recreation.

These venues, which feature trampolines and attractions such as basketball hoops, dodge ball and Velcro walls, have been the site of dozens of injuries ranging from ankle sprains and muscle strains to broken bones.

The most severe injury came last week when 30-year-old Ty Thomasson landed in the foam-pit area of the Sky Park trampoline park, near Indian School and 40th Street. He broke his neck from the fall and died over the weekend.

Sky Park said in a statement that the business is conducting its own investigation of the death and has closed the foam pit, which is filled with foam cubes meant to cushion a fall. The venue remains open.

There is little government regulation of the burgeoning industry. Phoenix and Maricopa County officials inspect commercial businesses for fire hazards, structural safety and sprinkler systems. They do not inspect the trampoline gym equipment or regulate how the devices are used.

And although established metro Phoenix schools that teach tumbling and gymnastics often require extensive training and certification for staff members, a handful of the indoor trampoline parks contacted by the Republic do not require their staff to hold any special safety certification.

Owners and managers of the indoor venues say they stress safety measures, require customers to sign legal waivers of liability and post safety rules throughout the trampoline parks. They also say they monitor activity and quickly eject customers who engage in unsafe practices.

Still, lawyers and some concerned parents question how safe these gyms are, particularly for small children.

“If I had young children, it’s not where I would encourage them to go,” said Michele Petchel, a Glendale woman whose teenage son injured his tooth at an indoor trampoline park. “These are relatively new, and there is not a lot governing these places. It is too much risk.”

Injuries reported
Metro Phoenix has at least eight trampoline venues, with most of them opening in the past two years. This mirrors a trend nationally, with parks popping up across the country.

Three are in Chandler, two in Phoenix and one each in Glendale, Peoria and Scottsdale.

Jumpstreet in Chandler, which has operated since late 2009, has required 31 ambulance responses since January 2010, according to Brad Miller, battalion chief for the city’s Fire Department. Airworx, which opened in fall 2010, has had 16 responses. Xtreme Air Jump ‘N Skate Park, which opened about April 2011, has had five responses.

Serious injuries from trampoline accidents are not uncommon, in the backyard or in public venues, national statistics show.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates the number of trampoline injuries requiring emergency-room care annually. In 1991, there were fewer than 38,000 cases nationally, the CPSC reports.

By 2000, the number had grown to 100,000. Since then, the estimates have leveled off, with nearly 92,200 in 2010.

Though the parks typically require customers to sign documents acknowledging risk and limiting liability, there have been at least three lawsuits in Maricopa County Superior Court filed against Jumpstreet.

In one case, the parents of a 17-year-old boy are suing after he broke his ankle, claiming the park negligently allowed someone other than his legal guardians to sign the waiver.

The most recent case claims Jumpstreet’s negligence caused a 16-year-old girl to break her leg at the park. The company’s lawyer could not be reached for comment about any of the cases Tuesday.

Heather Bowie, a district manager overseeing Jumpstreet’s locations in Glendale and Chandler, said every customer is briefed on the company’s safety requirements. Employees monitor the floors for customers who engage in risky maneuvers. If customers dive head-first into the foam pit, they will be ejected.

“We have signs posted all over,” Bowie said. “We always have somebody monitoring the floor. It is a joint effort of the participants and (employees).”

Limited regulation
Metro Phoenix’s trampoline gyms get little, if any, government scrutiny when it comes to the safe use of the facilities’ equipment.

The state regulates Arizona’s amusement parks, but those rules don’t apply to playground equipment such as trampolines, swings, seesaws or fitness devices. Obstacle courses and inflated devices also don’t fall under state amusement-park rules.

Consumers should carefully scrutinize any legal releases that they are asked to sign that would absolve a business of negligence, said John Torgenson, a Phoenix attorney. Torgenson has helped gyms, batting cages and other recreation businesses craft releases.

Consumers “have to make the decision that they want to jump on a trampoline enough to sign one of these,” Torgenson said.

Gym owners and managers said the biggest obstacle to opening a trampoline gym is often securing liability insurance.

“That (insurance) is probably the biggest expense in a place like this,” said Valorie Martin, owner of Xtreme Air Jump ‘N Skate in Chandler. “More than anything, it is the insurance company that is scrutinizing what is in this place.”

Martin said her employees patrol the 10,000-square-foot trampoline floor with whistles and call out customers attempting unsafe flips, aggressive dodge-ball tactics or rough play.

She said the most injuries are minor, such as a twisted ankle or a dodge ball to the face.

“We have rules and regulations posted prior to entering the park,” Martin said. “We have signs everywhere. Do people read those things? Not necessarily, but they are posted.”

Parental concern
Phoenix resident Brinton Johnson said she did not think much about serious injuries when her 10-year-old son visited the Flip Dunk Sports trampoline park at 16th Street and Bethany Home Road. The venue, which opened in October, features a mix of instructional classes and “open jump” sessions.

Perhaps inspired by the gym’s owner, Phoenix Suns Gorilla mascot Bob Woolf, the gym also has trampolines with basketball hoops at the end “for a slam-dunk finish,” Flip Dunk’s website said.

During one trip during the Christmas break, Johnson’s son jumped and attempted to swat away a basketball. The basketball hoop’s net wrapped around the boy’s teeth, ripping out one tooth and damaging two others. The boy will need a tooth implant and other work that the dentist estimates will cost more than $50,000 over the boy’s life.

Johnson said she knew the risk of allowing her son to play at the indoor gym. She figured a twisted ankle or a minor muscle strain would be the biggest risk, not injuries that would require a lifetime of dental work.

“My son is no longer allowed to go there, obviously,” Johnson said.

To emphasize the risk to her son and daughter, she made them watch a television news report in recent days on Thomasson’s death.

“It was an eye-opener,” she said.

Source: Posted in Arizona Republic News