Head trauma in young recreational sledders: helmets are not compulsory in Italian law (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefania Barbieri ◽  
Elisa Bertoldi ◽  
Giulia Maria Cillo ◽  
Rosa Maria Gaudio ◽  
Rossella Snenghi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Head Trauma ◽  
Emergency Departments ◽  
Emergency Services ◽  
Mountain Biking ◽  
Hospital Emergency ◽  
Descriptive Data ◽  
Winter Sports ◽  
Helmet Use ◽  
Italian Law ◽  
Almost All

BACKGROUND Helmet use is now viewed as an essential safety measure in almost all sports involving a high risk of impact and head trauma, from horseback riding to mountain biking, rock climbing and winter sports such as skiing and snowboarding. For young skiers and snowboarders under the age of 14, the use of certified helmets is compulsory in Italian law, although no defined regulations exist for recreational sledding OBJECTIVE To review past and current regulations covering winter sports, to explore potential legal discrepancies in appraising factors related to helmet use in recreational activities by children under the age of 14, and to identify hazards connected with various types of sledding accidents METHODS Descriptive data of the cases of 16-year-old or younger adolescents injured while sledding without helmets were gathered from injury reports collected by ski patrols, pre-hospital emergency services and emergency departments, and compared with 53 cases of adolescents and children who went skiing and snowboarding wearing certified helmets, over two winter seasons (December to April, 2011-12 and 2012-13). Sledges were grouped into three categories:1) traditional wooden toboggans (hereafter called ‘traditional sleds’); 2) plastic sleds; 3) newly designed sleds (with inner tubes, plastic and hard foam sleds, snowskates, boardslides, runslides, snowblades, foam slides, etc.) RESULTS Descriptive data of the cases of 16-year-old or younger adolescents injured while sledding without helmets were gathered from injury reports collected by ski patrols, pre-hospital emergency services and emergency departments, and compared with 53 cases of adolescents and children who went skiing and snowboarding wearing certified helmets, over two winter seasons (December to April, 2011-12 and 2012-13). Sledges were grouped into three categories:1) traditional wooden toboggans (hereafter called ‘traditional sleds’); 2) plastic sleds; 3) newly designed sleds (with inner tubes, plastic and hard foam sleds, snowskates, boardslides, runslides, snowblades, foam slides, etc.) CONCLUSIONS Additional investigation of the actual dynamics of the accident, together with information on the sitting position and sled speed are required. Regulations should compel ski slope operators to improve the current level of control on sledding slopes.

scholarly journals Epidemic Thunderstorm Asthma

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (s1) ◽  
pp. s7-s7
Author(s):  
Alison McMillan
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Departments ◽  
Public Hospital ◽  
Emergency Services ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
List Type ◽  
Hospital Emergency ◽  
Forecasting System ◽  
Management Recommendations ◽  
Hospital Emergency Departments ◽  
Thunderstorm Asthma

Introduction:On November 21 and 22 of 2016, Victoria witnessed an unprecedented epidemic thunderstorm asthma emergency event in size acuity and impact. This scenario was never exercised nor contemplated. The event resulted in a 73% increase in calls to the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority and 814 ambulance cases in the six hours from 6 pm on November 21, 2016. A 58% increase in people presented to public hospital emergency departments in Melbourne and Geelong on November 21 and 22, 2016 (based on the three-year average). 313 calls were made to the nurse on call from people with breathing, respiratory, and allergy problems (compared to an average of 63 calls for the previous month). Tragically, ten deaths are linked to this event.Methods:A substantial amount of work has been completed, much of which goes towards addressing the Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommendations following a review of the event, including: Release of an epidemic thunderstorm asthma campaign and education programs which were rolled out across Victoria for the community and health professionals from September through November 2017;Development of a new epidemic thunderstorm asthma forecasting system on 1 October 2017 and updated warning protocols during the 2017 grass pollen season;Implementation of a Real-time Health Emergency Monitoring System to alert the department of demands on public hospital emergency departments on the system; andIntroduction of a new State Health Emergency Response Plan in October 2017 to improve coordination and communications before and during a health emergency.Discussion:The presentation will concentrate on the lessons learned more than two years down the track from the event in November 2016.

Emergency Services Utilization in Jakarta (Indonesia): A Cross-Sectional Study of Patients Attending Hospital Emergency Departments

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Syaribah Noor Brice ◽  
Justin James Boutilier ◽  
Daniel Gartner ◽  
Paul Harper ◽  
Vincent Knight ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Departments ◽  
Emergency Services ◽  
Survey Design ◽  
P Value ◽  
Medical Conditions ◽  
Hospital Emergency ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Time To Treatment ◽  
Hospital Emergency Departments

Abstract Background Pre-hospital and emergency services in Indonesia are still developing. Despite recent improvements in the Indonesian healthcare system, issues with the provision of pre-hospital and emergency services persist. The demand for pre-hospital and emergency services has not been the subject of previous research and, therefore, has not been fully understood. Our research explored the characteristics of patients attending hospital emergency departments in Jakarta, Indonesia. Methods The study used a cross-sectional survey design involving five general hospitals (four government-funded and one private). The patients’ demographic profile, medical conditions, time to treatment based on different medical conditions, and methods of transport to reach the hospitals were analysed using descriptive statistics. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare groups and the result was considered significant if the p-value < 0.05. Results A total of 1,964 patients was surveyed. The median age of patients was 44 years with an interquartile range (IQR) of 26 to 58 years. IQR describes the range of the middle 50% of values in the data when it is ordered from lowest to highest. Life-threatening conditions such as trauma and cardiovascular diseases were found in 8.6% and 6.6% of patients respectively, the general medical category accounted for 63%. The majority of patients with trauma travelled to the hospital using a motorcycle or car (59.8%). Ambulance was used by 9.3% of the patients, 38% of patients were not aware of the availability of ambulances. The median travel time by ambulances to the hospital was 42 minutes (IQR: 12 to 54 minutes). The median time to treatment for patients with cardiovascular disease was 102 minutes (IQR: 66 to 300 minutes). Conclusion Investing resources in pre-hospital and emergency services in Indonesia and in particular the provision of ambulance services, would create real benefits for the population and result in a significant reduction in deaths following heart disease and stroke.

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