Injuries in commercial whitewater rafting on the New and Gauley rivers of West Virginia.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the rates, patterns, and likelihood of injuries in commercial whitewater rafting on the New and Gauley rivers, West Virginia. METHODS: Standardized injury report forms developed by the West Virginia Whitewater Commission were reviewed for years 2005-2010 to provide a statistical account of injuries reported by licensed commercial rafting outfitters operating on the New and Gauley rivers. RESULTS: Overall, musculoskeletal injuries (sprains/strains, 21.1%; dislocations, 13.8%; fractures, 12.2%) comprised the majority (47.4%) of incidents followed by injuries to soft tissue (lacerations, 29.0%; abrasions, 13.3%; contusions, 2.3%). Almost one half (44.3%) of injuries were to the head, neck, and shoulders followed by the lower extremities (foot/ankle/leg/knee/hip, 33.9%) and upper extremities (hand/wrist/arm, 14.3%). Data analyzed using the Somers' D statistic revealed the likelihood of an injury occurring inside the raft is P = .55, and P = .39 when passengers are ejected from the raft into the river. The most likely injuries to occur to passengers are a laceration (P = .51) or a sprain (P = .20). The main probabilities for the risks of injuries were found to be to the head (P = .24), shoulder (P = .16), and face (P = .13) of the passenger. CONCLUSIONS: By knowing what injuries are common, their likelihood of occurrence, and the settings in which they happen, commercial outfitters can initiate practices to reduce injury rates.

Rock climbers' self-perceptions of first aid, safety, and rescue skills.

OBJECTIVE: Rock climbing is a challenging and demanding sport that requires specialized equipment and training. One significant area of training involves being familiar with first aid and rescue skills. This study reports climbers' self-perceptions of their first aid, safety, and rescue skill competencies. Actual technical skills were not measured. METHODS: Data were collected through a World Wide Web (WWW)-based questionnaire administered over a 15-month period. The questionnaire requested information on respondents' climbing history, first aid training, personal safety practices, and partner and self-rescue skills. RESULTS: Two hundred forty-one climbers completed the Web-based survey. Findings showed that the majority of climbers reported receiving some form of first aid training, were attentive to personal safety practices, and perceived themselves to be confident in partner and self-rescue techniques. CONCLUSIONS: On the basis of the results obtained in this study, it appears that training and specialized skills are considered by rock climbers to be important components of managing risk.