Expert gives advice on bounce houses after 3 kids hurt

Bounce houses aren't supposed to fly. But on Monday in South Glens Falls, N.Y., a Little Tikes bounce house was snatched into the air by a gust of wind with three children inside, seriously injuring two boys who fell about 15 feet to the ground.

One of the boys landed on a parked car and one landed in the street. They were taken to a hospital. A 10-year-old girl, who fell from a much lower height, sustained minor injuries.

Some of those who saw what happened say the bounce house eventually reached a height of about 50 feet.

"I was totally shocked," said Carrie Aho, a Springfield mother who saw a photo of the bounce house sailing through the air.

Her 6-year-old son Grant loves bounce houses, she said, but mostly they have been ones located indoors, such as Springfield businesses Jump Mania and Jumpin Joey's.

"My only concern at those kinds of places is to make sure he doesn't leave with somebody," Aho said.

But a few times, she said, Grant has been inside small bounce houses in the yards of friends.

"I never would have thought that I better make sure he does not blow away," she said.

"It will now make me think twice," she said. "It is not something I would have expected."

LeaAnn Kruger of Springfield is not worried about the safety of her son Gus, 7, in bounce houses, even if outdoors.

"He is a really large kid," she said. The boy weighs 80 pounds.

Kruger is a member of the PTA at Delaware Elementary School. The school will have bounce houses outdoors during the upcoming field day.

"They will be weighted," she said. "I am not too concerned."

Ted Amberg, who has owned and operated Amberg Entertainment, in Nixa, for 13 years. He rents and sets up inflatables — such as bounce houses and slides — throughout the nation. His company supplies inflatables to Hammons Field. Amberg often speaks nationally about safety issues for inflatables.

"Every single incident that has happened around the country — and it's not that there has been a ton — has been caused by operator error and not following basic rules and guidelines," he said.

Amberg said that the New York incident involved a small bounce house that can be purchased at a toy store. It is made of cheaper, lightweight material and is secured with plastic stakes of 7 to 9 inches. From what he has read, he said, a small company had rented the bounce house to someone who lived in the neighborhood.

Many commercially sold bounce houses actually state on the box that they are not to be used outdoors he said — yet the manufacturer also provides stakes.

Amberg said the bounce houses that professional rental companies, such as his, use are bigger and heavier and are made of a more durable vinyl. Most rental companies insist, for insurance reasons, on installing the bounce house, using 40-inch steel stakes, he said. Most important, he added, there is an employee present during operation.

Most manufacturers recommend that a bounce house not be used when winds reach 25 mph. Amberg said his company shuts down use — often to the dismay of customers — when winds reach 15 to 20 mph.

Regardless of wind speed, a bounce house is in danger of breaking free once the wind creates 2 inches of clearance between the ground and the bottom of the bounce house.

Amberg said he usually rents inflatables for large church, school or corporate events, not to individual homeowners.

The only government agency in Missouri that requires an inspection of how commercial bounce houses are set up is St. Louis County, he said. Two annual inspections are required in northwest Arkansas, he said.

Amberg supports greater inspection in Missouri.

According to the December 2012 issue of Pediatrics, from 1990 to 2010, more than 64,000 children were treated in U.S. emergency departments for inflatable bouncer-related injuries.

The study's authors noted that from 2008 to 2010 the number of this type of pediatric injury doubled to an average of 31 injured children per day. Only a small percentage of such injures are related to high winds.

Bounce house tips from Ted Amberg, owner of Amberg Entertainment in Nixa

Ask not just if the comapny doing the renting has insurance, but specifically ask for an insurance certificate that names you, the customer, as an insured.

Insist that an employee be present during operation.

Ask how the inflatable will be anchored, whether it's on on grass (with stakes) or on pavement (with sandbags or water barrels.)