Emergency Department Visits from a Local Amusement Park

Robert P. Olympia, Jodi Brady, Valerie Rupp, Cheryl Lansenderfer

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: There are limited published data examining Emergency Department (ED) presentations associated with amusement parks, and even fewer data on presentations not associated with roller coaster rides. Study Objectives: To determine the spectrum of medical and traumatic presentations to two EDs from nearby amusement parks. Methods: A retrospective chart review of prospectively identified, enrolled, and surveyed patients was conducted at two EDs in Pennsylvania during the summer of 2006. Any patient presenting with a medical or traumatic complaint that occurred within 12 h of ED presentation and was associated with a visit to the local amusement park was prospectively identified and details of the visit were retrospectively reviewed. Results: There were a total of 325 discharge diagnoses for the 296 ED visits identified; 74% of discharge diagnoses were trauma related. The most common traumatic diagnoses were laceration (27%) and head injury or concussion (14%). The most common non-traumatic diagnosis was heat-related illness (24%). Twenty-nine percent of discharge diagnoses were directly associated with amusement park rides. Eighty-nine percent of patients were discharged home. There were no mortalities reported. Conclusion: The majority of ED visits from nearby amusement parks were benign and did not require hospitalization.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)14-20
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Emergency Medicine
Volume41
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2011

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Emergency Medicine

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