Open AccessParasailing Fatalities in Southwest Florida
Author(s) -
Barbara C. Wolf,
Brett E. Harding
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
american journal of forensic medicine and pathology/the american journal of forensic medicine and pathology
Language(s) - Uncategorized
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.365
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1533-404X
pISSN - 0195-7910
DOI - 10.1097/paf.0b013e3181c0e78f
Subject(s) - recreation , coast guard , poison control , adverse weather , aeronautics , injury prevention , suicide prevention , occupational safety and health , forensic engineering , environmental health , geography , medical emergency , engineering , medicine , environmental protection , meteorology , law , political science , pathology
Parasailing is a recreational sport that is generally considered to be of little risk to the participants. Typically, the passenger launches from a motorboat with a specially designed winch that pulls him or her back to the boat at the end of the ride. The sport is not regulated at the federal, state, or county level. There have been few reports of injuries to parasailors. Additionally, there have been only 2 fatalities reported to the United States Coast Guard in a 10-year review. We report the details of these 2 deaths, those of a mother and daughter riding in a tandem parasail, which occurred on Fort Myers Beach in 2001, as well as an additional case of a parasailing fatality that occurred in southwest Florida in 1999. These cases illustrate the injuries seen in such fatalities and the hazards posed by adverse weather conditions and faulty equipment, as well as the impairment of passenger judgment by drugs and/or alcohol.