Study Objectives: Dockless electric rental scooters are an emerging transportation technology. The objective of this study was to describe the characteristics of dockless electric rental scooter injuries presenting to two academic emergency departments in one U.S. city.Methods: This observational cohort study utilized the city's public health syndromic surveillance system, EMS records and trauma registry records to identify all patients with scooter-related injuries presenting between September and November 2018. The medical records for all adult patients treated at two academic emergency departments were manually reviewed to extract demographic and clinical data. Cases involving mobility scooters or non-electric scooters were excluded from the analysis. The study adhered to the STrengthening the Reporting of OBservational studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) guidelines.Results: Over the three-month study period there were 200 scooter injuries identified through the syndromic surveillance system, EMS record review and trauma registry review. Of these, 124 (62%) were adult patients who presented to one of the city's two academic emergency departments. The median age was 30 years (IQR: 22-43) with a maximum age of 67. Patients were predominantly male (59.7%), and approximately half (51.6%) arrived via EMS. Only 2 patients (1.6%) were documented as wearing a helmet at the time of injury. Falling from the scooter (84.7%) was the most common mechanism of injury; only twelve patients (9.7%) had collided with a motor vehicle. Upper extremity injuries (56.1%), head and face injuries (45.5%), and lower extremity injuries (34.2%) were most common, with nearly half of all patients (48.0%) sustaining multiple injuries. There were 112 patients (91.1%) who required imaging-including x-ray (70.7%), CT (39.8%) and MRI (0.8%); 78 patients (63.4%) required an emergency department procedure-including reductions (12.0%), splinting (26.0%) and/or wound repair (27.6%). Most patients were discharged home, but 35 (28.5%) were admitted to the hospital and 26 (21.1%) required surgical intervention. Two patients (1.6%) were admitted to the intensive care unit, but no patients died from scooter-related injuries during this study period.Conclusion: Dockless electric rental scooters are associated with a wide range of injuries consuming considerable emergency department and hospital resources. New injury prevention strategies are needed to address this emerging transportation technology.
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