![[Click here for info on the Yahoo Visa Credit Card]](http://us.yimg.com/a/ya/yahoo_visacard/everything_01.gif)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
This was an interesting article on injuries in the backcountry and I thought it was germain to the lists. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/health/story.html?s=z/reuters/980508/health/stories/out2_1.html -- Peter H. Fornof athiker@plantnet.com broknspoke@aol.com http://www.plantnet.com/~athikerTitle: Park survey reveals "wilderness" injuries
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Researchers who studied illness, injury and death in eight California parks report that hiking, walking, skiing, and driving caused more problems than wild animal attacks, rock climbing, hang gliding, and other "exotic" causes.
"Cardiac deaths (17%), drowning (15%), falling (15%), and motor vehicle accidents (10%) were the most frequent causes of death," Dr. Raul Montalvo and colleagues from the University of California at San Diego write in the Western Journal of Medicine. They also report that "fighting and substance abuse account(ed) for more than three times as many injuries as rock climbing."
Overall, 1,708 people (9.2 per 100,000 visitors) were injured and 78 (0.026 per 100,000 visitors) died during the 1993-95 study period. The most common injuries were to ankles and knees, followed by hands and wrists and then the head and neck region.
Men accounted for 78% of the fatalities. Injuries to men were primarily due to "...the use of a sharp object, substance abuse, rock climbing, and scuba." Women were often injured horseback riding.
More injuries occurred in the busy summer months than at other times of the year.
On a related note, Dr. David Pomeroy from the University of Washington in Seattle says families can enjoy safe camping if they are well prepared. Take extra food and clothing, matches, a flashlight, compass, map, fire starter and safety whistle, he advises. The family's first-aid kit should include bandages, an artificial ice pack, tweezers, water purification tablets, antibiotic ointment, antibacterial soap, a thermometer, and over-the-counter pain medication. Everyone should have a current tetanus shot. If hiking, everyone should stay on trails, with children staying in sight of parents. SOURCE: Western Journal of Medicine (1998;168:248-254)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|