International Association of Trampoline Parks Statement Regarding AAP's Study

HERSHEY, Pa. - Aug. 1, 2016 - PRLog -- The International Association of Trampoline Parks (IATP) welcomes studies like the one published this week by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Such studies provide a deeper understanding of safety issues and provide data on our sport allowing us to better educate parents, jumpers and parks so all can fully enjoy indoor trampoline park facilities.

• Over the last year alone, it is estimated that more than 50 million people visited trampoline parks in North America.

• If the AAP study reported Trampoline Park Injuries (TPIs) as a percentage, rather than a total, a more accurate industry picture would develop. As a point of reference, high school football players experience injuries at a rate of 3.87 per 1,000 exposures. The rate of reportable injury at a typical trampoline park is less than one per 10,000 jumpers.  Therefore, the rate at which injuries occur is a much more meaningful statistic than total number of injuries.

• With industry growth from 25 parks in 2010 to more than 350 in 2014, there would naturally be an increase in the number of TPIs reported from 2010 to 2014.

The IATP agrees that trampoline jumping is best enjoyed when appropriate safety measures are in place. Like AAP, we advocate supervision and protective padding. In addition, IATP supports the ASTM International Standard for Trampoline Courts which includes: rigorous manufacturing and design criteria, monitoring courts, redundant netting, training and providing patron education.

We believe that the positives of youth recreational sports far outweigh the negatives and we are actively engaged in programs aimed at promoting the safety and well-being of jumpers who visit our member parks.

We agree with researchers that safety is always a priority. The IATP encourages and supports more investigation into strategies to prevent injury, not just at trampoline parks, but also at home where guidelines for trampolines are neither as rigid nor effective as those in parks where activities are organized and supervised.

Founded in 2012, the International Association of Trampoline Parks (IATP) is dedicated to serving the interests of its membership and educating the trampoline park industry by promoting safe operations, facilitating commercial success and stimulating growth of the trampoline park industry. The IATP is the trampoline park industry's most ardent safety and injury prevention advocate.  We closely monitor sports medicine, fitness and injury reporting and use it in a deliberate approach to the development of consensus safety standards for our members and for our industry.