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Sledging is more dangerous than children (or parents) think

November 18, 2003

Sledging is more dangerous than children or parents think, suggests a small study in Emergency Medicine Journal.

But a few simple precautions could ensure that children are adequately protected so that they can continue to enjoy the activity, this winter, say the authors.

They base their remarks on the numbers of children requiring emergency care during late December and early January when the first snow of the winter had fallen in Dundee, Scotland.

During the two weeks of the study, 422 children required emergency treatment: of these, more than one in 10 had been injured while sledging. Twenty five boys and 21 girls needed treatment for sledging injuries. Their ages ranged from 2 to 13 years.

Between them, they had 49 injuries, four of which were head injuries: three of these children had to be admitted. There were also 20 leg injuries, including nine fractures, and 13 arm injuries, seven of which were fractures.

In total, eight children needed to be admitted to hospital, a further 12 required outpatient appointments, and 26 were allowed to go home after treatment.

There were 11 long bone injuries, and the authors point out that many of the children sustaining these injuries were in the rapid phase of growth when long bone fractures may have severe effects on development.

Falling off the sledge was a common cause of injury in almost a third of cases, and at least two of the children were standing up at the time, a practice known as "sledge" or "snow surfing."

In almost all cases, the children had been using plastic sledges, although one had used a skateboard, which the authors discourage, along with the use of plastic bags or trays.

They recommend that children wear protective headgear and gloves and that they sledge on slopes that are free of trees, posts, or bollards. Over a quarter of the injuries could have been prevented had the children not collided with stationary objects on the slope.

The authors conclude: "Sledges travel fast, are difficult to steer and hard to brake. They are often driven by young novices on slopes that are crowded, unprepared and unsupervisedthere seems to be very little awareness that sledging is a potentially dangerous activity and few safety precautions are taken."

They call for safety instructions to be issued with the sale of all sledges.

British Medical Journal (BMJ)

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