tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-659197563728114440.post819497996560388712..comments2023-09-15T05:36:24.265-04:00Comments on Marijke: Nurse Turned Writer: Trampolines - jump or dump?Marijke Vroomen-Durninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14436563110710429784noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-659197563728114440.post-86333266561078638062007-08-30T16:12:00.000-04:002007-08-30T16:12:00.000-04:00Hi Marijke,I have to confess a conflict of interes...Hi Marijke,<BR/>I have to confess a conflict of interest in commenting on your "jump or dump" thoughts.<BR/><BR/>I'm part of the team that is trying to bring "...the world's safest trampoline..." to a backyard near you. In 1991 our Senior Design Engineer, Dr. Keith Alexander from Canterbury University in New Zealand received a fairly similar synopsis from his wife: not in our backyard, not for our kids. But, she took one step further, (probably figuring it would keep her inventive husband out of her hair for the balance of his natural life). She challenged him - "...you want a trampoline in our backyard, then make a safe one..."<BR/><BR/>10 years later, in 2001, Keith was issued with US patent #6319174 for what is now sold as the Springfree Trampoline. His design objective was to remove all the traditional "impact zones" that generated the vast majority of "equipment induced" injuries on backyard trampolines. <BR/>The product has been in the market for a couple of years now, and its popularity with parents and health professionals is growing strongly. With a population of several 10's of thousands out in the field now, it appears that this design breakthrough is making a statistical difference to backyard trampoline safety.<BR/><BR/>The "experts" all agree that multi-jumper impact is and will remain a major source of trampoline injury risk. Having said that, our assessment is that removing the springs and frame at the jumping surface (and the need for what are generally under specified and temporally placed safety pads), and replacing steel safety net poles with flexible shock absorbing devices, removes ~83% of the injury risk that kids are exposed to on a traditional trampoline.<BR/><BR/>That still means kids will collide (cause kids play with kids), but it also means that no one's C4 vertebrate will impact on an unforgiving steel tube at 30m/s velocity.<BR/><BR/>Regards<BR/>DougAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com