>>> this morning on "rossen reports" a new report on the bounce houses that kids love. nbc investigative reporter jeff rossen is here with more.
>> reporter: good morning, all our ears are perking up, including me, because i bring my kids to bounce houses all the time, big at birthday parties, carnivals, some families even set them up in the backyard. as a parent you think to yourself what can happen, they are soft and cushiony but this morning alarming numbers about kids getting seriously hurt. it's a wake-up call for all of us. those fun inflatable houses now responsible for a spike in injuries. doctors call it an endemic.
>> more than 30 children are treated in the hospital emergency room each day in the country for an injury associated with an inflatable bouncer.
>> reporter: 30 kids a day.
>> 30 kids a day and that equals a child every 45 minutes.
>> reporter: that's dr. gary smith just out with this landmark study in the "journal of pediatrics." for the first time looking at bounce house injuries nationwide over the last two decades.
>> between 2w5ig9 and 2010 , there was a doubling of injuries. the curve looks like this.
>> reporter: it happened to little cassie stapleton.
>> i broke my arm.
>> terrifying.
>> reporter: did you think in a million years my daughter could be hurt in a bouncy house ?
>> never, never.
>> reporter: cassie was coming down the slide when she lost her balance and fell, breaking her arm in two places. we're all guilty of it. turn our back and the kids are playing in there and you think they are safe.
>> absolutely. even the floor is soft so you think that there's nothing that can happen to them but that's not the case.
>> reporter: the most common injury, sprains and fractures, some to the head and neck. 43% caused by falls. most inside the bounce house with some kids bouncing out of it. 16% of injuries caused by other kids, collisions and roughhousing. what should parents do?
>> limit the use to 6 and older because the risk is less for that group.
>> reporter: and make sure kids playing inside are all around the same age.
>> a 7 1/2-year-old shouldn't be in there with 3 year olds.
>> correct.
>> reporter: the frequency of injuries is incredibly low and most happen because of misuse or a failure to follow guidelines. when you go to bouncy houses now what do you do?
>> play.
>> reporter: are you careful in.
>> yes.
>> reporter: casey is all healed now, but her mom will never forget that day she races her to the e.r.
>> you have to keep an eye on them every second if they are in a bounce house . they are not always foolproof, not always safe.
>> reporter: she is cute. look, no one is saying keep your kids away entirely. even cassie 's parents still bring her. you just need to know the risks. there are voluntary safety guidelines for bounce houses, but experts say that may not be enough. manufacturers and doctors need to get together and figure out, they say, a better way to design these houses so the injuries can be even lower. you saw that graph.
>> yeah.
>> doubling over the past couple of years.
>> not only size difference in the kid but how many kids get in there at the same time, becomes like bumper cars.
>> some adults jump in there, too.
>> never a good idea.
Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/49963845/
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