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Sci Tech
Thrill rides may cause head, neck trauma
WITH THE advent of amusement park rides reaching G-forces that exceed those experienced by astronauts on the space shuttle, emergency physicians may be seeing a significant increase in head, neck and back trauma, warned an article in Annals of Emergency Medicine (Amusement Park Injuries and Death).
The authors reviewed reports of amusement park injuries and fatalities that have been published in the medical literature as well as data collected from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), and literature on physics and physiologic effects of roller coasters.
Based on CPSC data and the 900 million amusement park rides visitors take each year, the authors calculated that the risk of injury requiring medical attention is one in 124,000 rides; the risk of injury requiring hospitalisation is one in 15 million rides, and the risk of being fatally injured is one in 150 million rides.
"Although the risk of injury from amusement park rides today is low, our research uncovered a worrisome trend in the number and rate of amusement park injuries," says Robert J. Braksiek, of Hennepin County Medical Centre in Minneapolis.
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