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Skateboard injuries
Author(s) -
Cass Danny T,
Ross Frank
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1990.tb136832.x
Subject(s) - medicine , injury prevention , poison control , occupational safety and health , suicide prevention , head injury , medical emergency , human factors and ergonomics , intervention (counseling) , physical therapy , surgery , psychiatry , pathology
The recent increase in skateboard injuries is causing concern. Over a 30‐month period there were 80 admissions (69 children) to Westmead Hospital because of skateboard injuries. Among children most injuries were minor, involving fractures to the upper limbs (47) or minor head injuries (8). The only serious injuries were a ruptured urethra and a closed head injury. Over the same time period skateboard riding caused five deaths in New South Wales. These all involved head injuries and in four instances collisions with cars. The data strongly support other studies that show skateboard riding is particularly dangerous near traffic and should be proscribed. However, in parkland and around the home the skateboard is an enjoyable toy with an acceptable risk of minor injury. Helmets should be worn and would have prevented all the head injury admissions in this series. Children under 10 have a higher risk of fractures and head injuries due to insufficient motor development to control the boards and the resultant falls. Skateboard injuries are an example of injuries caused by a “fad epidemic”. To cope with these types of periodic events up‐to‐date data collection is needed, followed rapidly by an intervention programme so that serious injuries can be kept to a minimum.