title: Severity of free-fall injury.
abstract: Free-falls frequently result in death in the United Kingdom. The injuries sustained by free-fall victims are often misdiagnosed. The severity of deceleration injuries sustained by 28 free-fall victims, as assessed by the Injury Severity Score, was shown to be related to the height of the fall. A high proportion of visceral injuries resulted when patients fell from a height of 6.1 m or more. It is recommended that patients injured as a result of a fall from such a height should be sent to a major accident centre. Only by appreciating the potential severity of injury sustained by free-fall victims, usually related to the height of the fall, may earlier and more accurate diagnosis be made and appropriate management instituted.
authors.affiliation: Accident and Emergency Department, Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Steedman
mesh_terms: D000007:Abdominal Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology; D000058:Accidental Falls; D000059:Accidents; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010384:Pelvic Bones / Q000293:injuries; D013124:Spinal Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology; D013898:Thoracic Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology; D015599:Trauma Severity Indices; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000145:classification* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality