Spring weather will arrive in Ohio before we know it, and with pleasant outdoor weather comes children’s birthday parties. It has become increasingly common for children’s birthday parties to feature inflatable bounce houses or other “inflatable recreation devices.” They can be a source of great fun, but if they’re not properly set up, maintained and supervised, the results can be tragic. Every year, over 4,000 kids go to the emergency room with bounce house-related injuries, ranging from missing teeth to broken necks and traumatic brain injuries. If your child has been injured in a bounce house, you may be able to get compensation.
What Causes a Bounce House Injury?
- Equipment failure or improper installation. Sometimes the bounce house is defective, usually as a result of either a manufacturer’s defect or faulty maintenance. Other times, the bounce house may not have been installed at the site properly.
- Lack of supervision. Someone has to keep an eye on how the bounce house is used, especially when there are children involved. Kids lack the maturity to police themselves, and if there are too many people in the bounce house, they can get seriously hurt.
- Inclement weather. There have been multiple incidents where a bounce house was not appropriately staked down, and strong winds blew it away. (As a general rule, never go in a bounce house on a windy or stormy day.)
- People of disparate sizes. When you have adults jumping around with children, it is incredibly easy for people to lose their balance and fall on each other. This can result in anything from a few bruises to broken bones and traumatic brain injuries.
What Causes of Action Are Available?
Depending on the specific circumstances of your child’s injury, you may be able to pursue several causes of action against various people or companies responsible. If the bounce house was defective, a product liability claim against the manufacturer would be appropriate. For questions of poor installation, supervision or operation, you could sue the leasing company, equipment owners, property owners, operators or installers for negligence.
As always, there may be mitigating circumstances. For example, your child may be partially at fault for their accident, or they may have trespassed to get into the bounce house. Even if this is the case, you may still be able to recover. The best thing to do is call an attorney to discuss your specific case.
Call an Ohio Personal Injury Attorney Today
When your child has been injured in a bounce house accident, you may be able to recover compensation for their medical bills, pain and suffering, lost wages due to caring for them and more. I’ll Make Them Pay!® Call my office at 877.944.4373 today for more information.