Injuries associated with snowmobiles, Alaska, 1993-1994

Objective. To characterize the nature and burden of snowmobile injuries in Alaska by examining injury deaths and hospitalizations associated with snow mobiles and comparing these with injury deaths and hospitalizations associa ted with on-road motor vehicles, Methods, The authors used vital statistics, medical examiner, Department of Public Safety, and Department of Transportation records to identify snowmo bile injury deaths, and used vital statistics mortality files to identify o n-road motor vehicle injury deaths. The Alaska Trauma Registry provided dat a on hospitalizations, The number of vehicles in use in 1993-1994 was estim ated from snowmobile sales and on-road motor vehicle registrations, Results. For 1993-1994, injury death and hospitalization rates were greater for snowmobiles than for on-road motor vehicles. In northern Alaska, snowm obile injuries outnumbered on-road motor vehicle injuries, A total of 26 sn owmobile injury deaths were reported; 7 decedents drowned after breaking th rough ice and 8 were ejected from vehicles. More than half (58%) of the sno wmobile injury deaths involved a natural object such as a boulder, ravine, or river, Of the 17 decedents for whom blood alcohol concentrations were av ailable, 11 (65%) had blood alcohol concentrations greater than or equal to 100 mg/dL. Conclusions. Natural obstacles and alcohol intoxication contribute to the h igh risk of injury death associated with snowmobile use. injury control str ategies, including trail development and improvement, should be evaluated.