Jamieson Trauma Institute data collection across the State works to keep e-scooter riders safe

With presentations to Queensland Emergency Departments for e-scooter injuries growing every month, the Jamieson Trauma Institute remains committed to safety and injury prevention with its now-expanded data collection project.

The Metro North Health institute has received funding from RACQ and RBWH Foundation to collect the statewide data, which shows there have been 3305 presentations for e-scooter injuries since 2019.

Alarmingly, many of the patients were not wearing helmets, with more than 50 per cent of presentations showing head and facial injuries.

Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital Emergency Senior Staff Specialist Emergency and Trauma Physician Frances Williamson said e-scooter presentations are predicted to overtake presentations from pushbikes shortly.

“In the last six months, 20 per cent of e-scooter crash patients required hospitalisation or operative care for head and facial trauma and 69 per cent needed orthopaedic intervention,” Dr Williamson said.

“The impacts of these kind of injuries can be profound as they have repeated return visits to the hospital for outpatient care, delayed operative intervention and a slow return to work.”

Jamieson Trauma Institute Professor Kirsten Vallmuur said the data shows ED presentation trends are changing across the state.

“We’re no longer only seeing patients present on Friday and Saturday nights,” Prof Vallmuur said.

“In some hospitals mid-week, early evening presentations are in fact more common than the stereotypical late night weekend presentations which people have typically associated with e-scooters. This suggests the type of people who are using e-scooters and purposes for use are changing over time.”

The Jamieson Trauma Institute continues to collect and release this data to influence policy and safety relating to e-scooters in Queensland.