Impact of electric scooters to a tertiary emergency department: 8‐week review after implementation of a scooter share scheme

Abstract

Objective: A retrospective audit of presentations to a tertiary trauma centre reviewing the demographics of electric scooter injuries in the first 2 months of the scooter-share scheme, which was commenced in Brisbane in November 2018. Methods: Electric scooter-associated presentations to the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital Emergency and Trauma Centre from November 2018 to January 2019 were identified. Data collected included patient demographics, type and location of injuries, helmet use, alcohol consumption, length of stay and disposition. Estimates of costs associated with electric scooter presentation were also obtained. Results: Fifty-four electric scooter encounters were included during the 2-month period. Helmets were worn in 46% and was associated with reduced risk of head injury (odds ratio (OR) 0.18, P = 0.029). Alcohol was involved in 27% although this did not impact on admission rates (OR 1.25, P = 0.83) or operative management (OR 2.14, P = 0.42). Contusions/abrasions and fractures/ dislocations were the most common types of injury, whereas upper limb and minor head injuries were the most common sites of injury. Most patients were discharged home (87%), with 74% completing their emergency visit in under 4 h. Six patients required operative management and 15 patients needed outpatient follow-up. There were no deaths. Average patient cost per presentation was $542 and ranged from $285 to $1345. Conclusions: The findings characterised injury patterns and costs associated with electric scooters in our ED. Given the increasing popularity of electric scooters as an alternate form of transportation, our study may help to inform public policy for future injury prevention.

Emergency department impact following the introduction of an electric scooter sharing service

“…Mitchell et al . performed a retrospective audit of e‐scooter related encounters at a single ED in Brisbane, Australia, which showed contusions/abrasions and fractures/dislocations were the most common injuries . In the present study of e‐scooter related presentations, 78% of patients required X‐rays, and 24% required CT scans.…”

“…The recent work by Mitchell et al . also reported on 54 e‐scooter injuries in their study in the first 2 months following the introduction of an e‐scooter sharing service to Brisbane.…”

Considering the Potential Health Impacts of Electric Scooters: An Analysis of User Reported Behaviors in Provo, Utah

“…Various factors contribute to the prevalence of e-scooter injuries: Incompatible infrastructure (e.g., lack of bike lanes), lack of directional tools on e-scooters (e.g., turn signals, headlights), rider inexperience and noncompliance with age restrictions, failure of users to obey traffic rules, alcohol use, and reluctance to wear helmets [5,7,24,28,33]. Recent studies have found helmet use among injured e-scooter riders to be extremely low, ranging from 0% and 8% in most studies [5,6,23,24,28,34,35,39]. Additionally, despite regulations prohibiting them from doing so, e-scooter users commonly ride and park on sidewalks, which can lead to injuries to users as well as to pedestrians [40,41].…”

“…A primary public health concern, and the focus of the vast majority of academic research on e-scooters to date, is e-scooter-related injuries [10]. Several studies in the United States and elsewhere have found a high incidence of injuries related to scooter usage, particularly head and limb trauma, after the introduction of e-scooter share programs [5,12,24,28,[33][34][35]. There is even some evidence that the injury rate for e-scooters may be higher than that of motorcycles and personal vehicles [27,36].…”

Electric scooters

“…This issue of the journal we publish a report analysing electric scooter injuries in Brisbane; another paper on injuries in Dunedin is in the production pipeline and will be published soon. Emergency physicians know better than most, that life carries risk.…”