By Marjory Inglis, health reporter

AN ACCIDENT and emergency specialist in Dundee has sprung into action in a bid to prevent children landing in hospital with trampolining injuries.

Brodie Paterson is not advocating a ban on bouncing, but he wants to prevent any resulting injuries.

Last summer he and his colleagues in A&E at Ninewells Hospital treated many people injured on trampolines—and not just children.

He said dads also came a cropper after a few “shandies” at the family barbecue, ending up with stookies on their arms and legs because their reflexes are not as good as they were.

In recent years the numbers of people turning up at A&E with broken legs and arms and other injuries sustained while bouncing on a trampoline have been rising to such an extent, Mr Paterson and his colleagues have undertaken an audit in a bid to spot trends and offer advice to help people avoid such injuries.

The audit showed most of the accidents occurred when more than one child was on the trampoline.

Mr Paterson said he did not want to spoil people’s fun and pointed out that trampolining can have a role in encouraging fitness and tackling obesity.

However, he wants people to observe a few simple rules to avoid what can be serious injuries that involve children having “metalwork” inserted in their limbs to repair serious damage to broken bones.

“Last summer I had five children in a row one Friday night who had come a cropper on trampolines,” said Mr Paterson.

He said simple measures could help people avoid injury, stipulating that only one child should be on the apparatus at any one time and there should be appropriate adult supervision to help youngsters get on and off the trampoline safely and ensure children use the equipment safely.

The A&E consultant said trampoline-related injuries would never be completely eradicated but he hoped that by publicising these simple measures, especially at the start of the schools’ Easter holidays, the numbers of injuries would be reduced.