A Study of the Incidence of Accidents Occurring during an Arctic Expedition: Another Important Aspect of Travel Medicine?

The number of expeditioners and independent adventure travelers to remote and physically demanding areas is increasing. Recent evidence suggests that trauma and accidents (resulting mainly from road traffic accidents and drowning) are the primary cause of mortality in travelers rather than infectious diseases.1,2 The risks and potential hazards faced on an expedition are likely to be different from those encountered by other travelers. An extensive literature search revealed little data concerning the incidence and nature of accidents on expeditions, or concerning the young adventure traveler. The objective of this study was to determine the frequency and type of accidents that occurred on a 6-week summer arctic expedition, undertaken by "young explorers" and their leaders. This information will be valuable in order to identify potential risks as part of the pretravel risk assessment, and consequently improve the medical briefing and training of expeditioners and adventure travelers.