The Sunshine Coast’s main emergency ward has been hit by scores of e-scooter-related injuries in 12 months.
Data collected by the Sunshine Coast Health Trauma Service revealed there were 118 presentations to the Sunshine Coast University Hospital Emergency Department, from January last year to January this year.
Sunshine Coast Health medical director of trauma service Dr Andrew Hobbins-King said the largest cohort of e-scooter incidents belonged to adolescents and, in many cases, their injuries were significant.
“The data shows a large paediatric cohort of patients under the age of 18 contributing to 56.8 per cent of presentations,” he said.
“The vast majority of overall presentations were male, amounting to 72.9 per cent.
“Injuries also seem to vary between presentations. However, the majority of patients did have significant injuries, with 61 per cent of patients having at least one fractured bone.
“Injuries varied from mild abrasions and lacerations to fractures, collapsed lungs and brain bleeds.”
Sunshine Coast Health executive director of medical services Dr Marlene Pearce said many of these e-scooter incidents could have been avoided.
“What is concerning is only half of those patients were reportedly wearing a helmet at the time of the incident,” she said.
“Speed also seems to be a factor in e-scooter-related injuries, with our data revealing almost half of patients who ended up in our emergency department were speeding.
“We are currently seeing around one e-scooter-related injury presentation to SCUH’s emergency department every three days, and many of these could be avoided or minimised by taking safety precautions.”
The state government’s rules for personal mobility devices website safety tips include: not using a phone while riding; using a light and high-visibility jacket at night to increase visibility; obeying road rules and speed limits (which is 25km/h on the road and 12km/h on footpaths); and not riding under the influence of alcohol.
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