Death by Chainsaw: Fatal Kickback Injuries to the Neck

Abstract

Each year over 3 million new chainsaws are sold in the United States. The operation of these newer saws combined with the millions of older chainsaws in circulation results in over 28,000 chainsaw-related injures annually. The majority of the injuries involve the hands and lower extremities with less than 10% involving injuries to the head and neck regions. Deaths while operating a chainsaw are extremely rare. The most common hazards associated with chainsaws are injuries caused by kickback, pushback, and pull-in. Kickback is the most common and poses the greatest hazard. Kickback occurs when the rotating chain is stopped suddenly by contact with a more solid area throwing the saw rapidly backward toward the operator. The cause of most injuries can be traced to improper use of the saw or poor judgment on part of the operator. We present two fatal chainsaw deaths; one with an older style saw, and the other with a modern type. In both cases the victims died from fatal injuries received to the neck region from a chainsaw kickback. The first case involved a 49-year-old white male operating an older style chainsaw with limited safety features. The second case involved a 38-year old white male who was operating a newer model chainsaw equipped with a low kickback chain in an unsafe manner.

Epidemiological, Clinical, and Forensic Aspects of Chainsaw, Circular Saw, and Grinding Saw Injuries in the Maxillofacial Region

“…3,4 However, in the forensic literature described here are rare circular saw and chainsaw suicidal attempts in patients with schizophrenia or depression and in homicides as well. 5Y8 The usual scenario of chainsaw, circular saw, and grinding saw injuries of the head and neck includes injury of soft tissues.…”

Unusual suicides of young women with tentative cuts and fatal neck injuries by chain saw and circular saw

“…In the medico-legal literature, the use of electrical saws/chain saws is mainly associated with accidents [1,2]: most injuries are caused by saw kickbacks and concern the left side; the face, neck, hands and feet are mainly involved. In addition, intentional selfmutilations, insurance fraud or postmortem body dismemberment were described [3][4][5].…”

Neck injury patterns resulting from the use of petrol and electric chainsaws in suicides. Report on two cases

“…3,9 The main cut is generally straight but may present some tags in the side walls which are extensively contused. 3,9,11 Wound morphology is determined by the shape of the saw teeth whose perpendicular cutting surfaces are designed to cut and remove wood (see Fig. 1).…”

“…1 As a result, the wounded tissue is cut, bruised, chewed and coarsely removed while the margins of the wound may often be contaminated with foreign oily substances, sawdust or wood chips, bark, grease, bacteria or fungal microspores normally lodging on the chain and teeth. 9,11 The teeth's chewing effect produces an accumulation of coarser, heavier fragments of tissue below the cutting attachment while smaller, lighter fragments of tissue and blood are normally launched ahead from the tip of the bar. 12 Schiwy-Bochat et al reported that the saw teeth normally slip off the skin on initial contact with surface tissues but, after increasing manual pressure, the saw penetrates the deeper tissues causing lethal wounds to the deep vessels and nerves of the neck as far as the cervical spine bones.…”

“…9,11 Various authors have described and differentiated the typical morphological features of wounds to the neck or basal areas of the skull produced by petrol and electric chainsaws observed during post-mortem examination. 9,10 Reuhl et al reported the features of conspicuous neck wounds caused by petrol chainsaws as consisting of deep, gaping injuries, measuring several centimetres in width and several centimetres in length, with the edges mostly torn and ragged.…”