Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Doelp, Matthew B.
• Puleo, Jack A.
• Cowan, Paul
• Arford-Granholm, Michelle

Titel

Characterizing surf zone injuries from the five most populated beaches on the Atlantic-fronting Delaware coast

Ist Teil von

• The American journal of emergency medicine, 2018-08, Vol.36 (8), p.1372-1379

Ort / Verlag

Elsevier Inc

Erscheinungsjahr

2018

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Beaches are a popular destination for recreation activities. Surf zone injuries (SZI) can occur resulting from a variety of in-water activities. Little is known regarding the sustained injury types, or demographics of injured persons and activities leading to injuries. This study examines the distribution of SZI types, activities and populations occurring on Delaware Beaches as recorded by a local level III trauma center (Department of Emergency Medicine at Beebe Healthcare in Lewes, Delaware). There were 2021 injuries over the eight study years (2010–2017). The relative demographics of the injured population are similar despite fluctuating injury totals (mean [SD], 253.1 [104.4]). Non-locals (n=1757) were 6.7 times more likely to be injured as their local (n=264) counterparts (RR, 2.62; 95% CI, 2.08–3.31). Males (n=1258) were 1.7 times more likely to be injured than their female (n=763) counterparts (RR, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.21–1.37). Serious injuries, defined as patients requiring admission to a trauma service, represented 9.1% (n=184) of injuries. Fatal SZI (n=6) were categorized as serious injuries. Wading (50.1%) was found to be the dominant activity associated with injury followed by body surfing (18.4%), and body boarding (13.3%). To the authors' knowledge, this study is one of the first to investigate long-term trends in SZI data, injury activity, and demographics. Better understanding of the characteristics of injuries will allow for improved awareness techniques, targeted at populations with higher injury rates.