• Jennifer Jamieson, Jenni Hawkins, Clare Collins, and Adam Mahoney.
• Trauma Service, Royal Hobart Hospital, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
• Emerg Med Australas. 2023 Feb 1; 35 (1): 159161159-161.

ObjectiveElectronic scooter (eScooter) popularity has soared, despite public concerns around injury risk. We aimed to explore the burden of injury from eScooters presenting to Tasmania's major trauma centre during the first 6 months of the Hobart eScooter trial.MethodsWe screened all ED presentations and interhospital transfers from 11 December 2021 to 26 June 2022 to identify eScooter-associated injury. All injuries were coded using the Abbreviated Injury Scale and an Injury Severity Score (ISS) was computed for each presentation. Data were entered into the Tasmanian Trauma Registry and then exported into standard statistical software for descriptive analysis.ResultsThere were 135 eScooter presentations to the ED and 31 were admitted. Patients were mostly young (median age 27 years) with an even sex distribution. Injuries were mostly minor (median ISS of 2) with injuries to soft tissues and the head and neck predominating. Approximately, one-third required operative interventions, but none required intensive care. Injured patients were less likely to have been wearing protective gear (36% helmet wearing) and alcohol intoxication was common (41% overall, 71% admitted patients).ConclusionOverall, our 6-month prospective dataset shows that the Hobart eScooter trial has been associated with few major injuries.© 2022 Australasian College for Emergency Medicine.

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