Your child’s eyes light up; your heart sinks. You know the bounce house isn’t just a bacterial wasteland but also an epicenter of injury. Against your better judgment, you let them go in. It’s just innocent fun, right? A childhood right of passage. Your child gets injured: a broken bone, fracture, or head injury. Now what?
Did Your Child Cause Their Own Injury?
Inflatable bounce houses are dangerous. Pediatrics published a study reporting more than 64,000 children being treated in the emergency room for injuries related to inflatable bounce houses during a ten year time period. Often these injuries are to legs and arms and are the result of one child falling on top of another.
Was your child injured while wrestling with his buddy? Well, then the fault may be his own.
Hopefully a bandage and hug are all that are necessary. More serious injuries do occur though and in these cases, it becomes even more important to be able to determine if there was negligence and if so who was the negligent party.
Bounce House Operator Responsibility
Everyone who rents a bounce house should understand what is correct in terms of use. The renter/operator most likely signed a waiver stating they understand the proper use of the bounce house and they are liable for anything that happens while the inflatable is being used (inappropriately or otherwise).
If the rules state the bounce house can only hold 10 kids and there are 15 kids or it is a dry bounce house and the bounce house operator is using water, the bounce house operator may be liable for any injuries that occur during this misuse. If you suspect the bounce house was overcrowded or some other rule being broken by the renter/operator, they may be responsible for damages.
Inflatable bounce houses are manufactured with safety as the main priority but what happens in the hands of the individual user varies greatly. The inflatable bounce house may not be properly anchored or may be in use during foul weather. In these cases, if injuries occur, the bounce house operator is at fault.
Bounce House Owner Responsibility
It is possible your child was injured because the bounce house wasn’t properly maintained by the owner. Was your child injured while on top of an inflatable slide, and all of a sudden, it lost all of its air sending your child crashing to the ground? Perhaps a patch on the side of the overused slide came loose.
Has the bounce house been inspected by the owner? It is the owner’s responsibility to maintain and inspect the inflatable before it is rented. If an injury occurred in these cases, the bounce house was not properly maintained and you may have a case against the owner of the inflatable.
Consult an Expert
Don’t take on this injury by yourself. These are complex cases. If your child was injured, you need a qualified, professional legal team. Contact the Personal Injury Team at Costa Ivone today.
