American Scene: Injuries from bounce houses soar over past 15 years

CHICAGO — They may be a big hit at children’s birthday parties, but inflatable bounce houses can be dangerous, with the number of injuries soaring in recent years, a nationwide study found.

Kids often crowd into bounce houses, and jumping up and down can send other children flying into the air, too.

The numbers suggest 30 U.S. children a day are treated in emergency rooms for broken bones, sprains, cuts and concussions from bounce house accidents. Most involve children falling inside or out of the inflated playthings, and many children get hurt when they collide with other bouncing kids. About 3 percent of the children were hospitalized, mostly for broken bones.

The number of children aged 17 and younger who got emergency-room treatment for bounce house injuries has climbed along with the popularity of bounce houses — from fewer than 1,000 in 1995 to nearly 11,000 in 2010.

Their study was published online Monday in the journal Pediatrics.

CALIFORNIA

Two-car rural-highway collision kills 2 children, 2 adults

SACRAMENTO — Two children were among four people killed when a car collided with a minivan on a rural Northern California highway, authorities said.

Five other people were hurt when a Toyota Prius crossed the center line on U.S. Highway 50 near Placerville on Saturday night and struck a Toyota Sienna minivan “broadside,” said California Highway Patrol spokesman Officer John Frizzell.

Three people in the Prius — a 39-year-old man driving the car, a woman and a child — were killed in the crash, Officer Frizzell said. Another child in the car suffered moderate injuries. Three of the dead lived in the San Francisco Bay area.

Of the five people in the minivan, a 4-year-old girl was killed, Officer Frizzell said. The four others — the 35-year-old female driver, a 51-year-old man and two 1-year-olds suffered minor to moderate injuries. No names were immediately released.

CALIFORNIA

Border Patrol: Woman tied to cartel is arrested

SAN DIEGO — A woman suspected of having links to the family of Mexico’s most-wanted drug lord has been arrested in California on immigration charges, a Border Patrol spokesman said Friday.

Zulema Aracely Lindoro was stopped Monday at a Border Patrol checkpoint in San Clemente, south of Los Angeles, spokesman Paul Carr said.

Story Continues →