Citation

Landen MG, Middaugh J, Dannenberg AL. Public Health Rep. (1974) 1999; 114(1): 48-52.

Affiliation

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Alaska Division of Public Health, Anchorage, USA. mg15@cdc.gov

Copyright

(Copyright © 1999, Association of Schools of Public Health)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

9925171

PMCID

PMC1308343

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To characterize the nature and burden of snowmobile injuries in Alaska by examining injury deaths and hospitalizations associated with snowmobiles and comparing these with injury deaths and hospitalizations associated with on-road motor vehicles. METHODS: The authors used vital statistics, medical examiner, Department of Public Safety, and Department of Transportation records to identify snowmobile injury deaths, and used vital statistics mortality files to identify on-road motor vehicle injury deaths. The Alaska Trauma Registry provided data on hospitalizations. The number of vehicles in use in 1993-1994 was estimated from snowmobile sales and on-road motor vehicle registrations. RESULTS: For 1993-1994, injury death and hospitalization rates were greater for snowmobiles than for on-road motor vehicles. In northern Alaska, snowmobile injuries outnumbered on-road motor vehicle injuries. A total of 26 snowmobile injury deaths were reported; 7 decedents drowned after breaking through ice and 8 were ejected from vehicles. More than half (58%) of the snowmobile injury deaths involved a natural object such as a boulder, ravine, or river. Of the 17 decedents for whom blood alcohol concentrations were available, 11 (65%) had blood alcohol concentrations > or = 100 mg/dL. CONCLUSIONS: Natural obstacles and alcohol intoxication contribute to the high risk of injury death associated with snowmobile use. Injury control strategies, including trail development and improvement, should be evaluated.