• Stephen Gilmartin, Michael Barrett, Michael Bennett, Cliona Begley, Chantelle Ni Chroinin, Patrick O'Toole, and Carol Blackburn.
• Department of Paediatric Emergency Medicine, Children's Health Ireland Crumlin, Dublin, Ireland. gilmartinstephen@gmail.com.
• Ir J Med Sci. 2022 Apr 1; 191 (2): 589595589-595.

BackgroundThe SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and government-enforced restrictions have impacted medical practices.AimsThe aim of our study was to investigate the impact SARS-CoV-2 and public health restrictions had on trauma presentations to a regional paediatric emergency service.MethodsWe carried out a multisite retrospective longitudinal study of all paediatric ED attendances from 2018 including 13 March to 7 June 2020. This aligned with the initial government-enforced public health phases: delay phase, mitigation phase and reopening phase 1.ResultsThere were 7975 total regional attendances during government-enforced restrictions. This represents 17.5% and 15.6% reductions in site attendances when compared with the two previous years. Regional attendances reduced by 52.5% in 2020 compared with 2018 and 50.9% compared with 2019. Following an initial reduction in injury attendances at the beginning of the 'lockdown' (p = 0.076), the number of injuries consistently grew as weeks progressed (p < 0.05), reaching a peak of 44.6% of all attendances. As restrictions eased, the most common location where injuries occurred moved to areas outside the home (p < 0.000). There was a significant change in injury type, final disposition and device-associated injury (p < 0.05). Wheeled recreational devices were associated with over 20% of all injuries by reopening phase 1.ConclusionsThis study reveals that total attendances and total injuries reduced during initial phases of the lockdown. This was followed by a significant increase in injury presentations, which reached a peak of 44.6% of all attendances. We identified potential modifiable characteristics of paediatric trauma which can be addressed by future public health strategies.© 2021. Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland.

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