Jamieson Trauma Institute leads ePMD safety with research

Researchers at Metro North Health’s Jamieson Trauma Institute (JTI) are tackling electric personal mobility devices (ePMDs) injuries head-on, with a novel surveillance approach providing information for regulators to enhance community safety.

The JTI team informing strategies to keep electric Personal Mobility Device (ePMDs) users safer

The surveillance approach collects ePMD-related emergency department (ED) presentations across three major hospitals in Brisbane to understand trends and patterns of injuries and crash circumstances.

Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, Princess Alexandra Hospital and Mater Hospital form the key data collection points for JTI’s work.

Emergency medicine clinician and research collaborator Dr Gary Mitchell said he sees first-hand the long-term impacts ePMD injuries can have on people during his clinical work at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.

“In the emergency department I frequently see people who have injured themselves on an e-scooter, with many patients requiring follow-up appointments or admission,” Dr Mitchell said.

“The number of injuries could be reduced by further exploring available regulatory options.”

The devices, including e-scooters, e-bicycles, e-skateboards, segways and hoverboards, have prompted safety concerns with rising numbers of ED presentations and hospital admissions.

To date, JTI’s data collection has shown upper limb fractures and head injuries to be most common, with almost 1 in 5 (18 per cent) of cases requiring hospital admission.

Of the ePMD-related ED presentations, e-scooters accounted for the vast majority of the incidents (92 per cent), with spikes in presentations seen on Thursday and Saturday nights between 6-12pm and Sunday mornings from midnight to 6am.

Those aged under 35 years accounted for almost 70 per cent of all ED presentations.

JTI’s work has informed Brisbane City Council’s e-mobility strategy, with JTI continuing to work with key local and State government bodies to facilitate further monitoring and evaluation activities.