Causes of Injuries in the Mountains: A Review of Worldwide Reports into Accidents in Mountaineering

Age and Sex Are Strongly Correlated to the Rate and Type of Mountain Injuries Requiring Search and Rescue Missions

INTRODUCTION

Because of the growing popularity of mountain tourism, the number of injuries related to mountain activities has increased rapidly. The regional volunteer search and rescue team (Tatra mountain rescue team [MRT], Poland) anticipates future increases in injuries and accidents.

METHODS

An analysis was performed on Tatra MRT incident reports for the years 2012 through 2013. These reports include information on the mechanism of injury, weather conditions, and demographic data of the injured tourists. The data were provided by the operation supervisor of each search and rescue mission. The study group consisted of 844 reports (median age 37 y, range 18-90 y). The analysis was designed to determine whether features such as age and sex of the injured tourist were correlated to the injury mechanisms (as identified by the rescuers) or their National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics-International Committee for Alpine Rescue (NACA ICAR) score.

RESULTS

Our study of the Tatra MRT data revealed that age and sex are risk factors for the rate and severity of injuries in the mountain environment. Injured men were more likely to require resource-intensive search and rescue missions and usually had a worse NACA ICAR score (P=0.041). The age analysis showed that older people are more likely to sustain a serious injury (3-7 NACA ICAR score). However, the most common rescue scenario involved younger males (20-40 y) at a higher altitude (>1500 m, P<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Sex and age are associated with the mechanisms and severity of injuries in the mountain environment. They should be considered in the development of appropriate prevention and response programs. Further studies are needed to confirm the results.

Finger and Toe Temperature Responses to Cold After Freezing Cold Injury in Elite Alpinists

OBJECTIVE

To assess whether previous freezing cold injuries (FCI) would affect digit skin temperatures and rewarming rates during a follow-up cold stress test protocol.

DESIGN

Nonrandomized control trial.

METHODS

Twenty elite alpinists participated; alpinists with previous FCI requiring digit amputations (injured, INJ: n = 10 total, n = 8 male) were compared with ability-matched, uninjured alpinists (control, CON: n = 10, all male). Digit skin temperature was measured using infrared thermography as an index of peripheral digit perfusion after a cold stress test, which consisted of 30 minutes of immersion in 8°C water.

RESULTS

The INJ alpinists' injured toes were warmer (approximately 6%) than their uninjured toes immediately after cold immersion (95% CI, 0.01°C to 1.00°C; P = .05); there were no differences between the rates of rewarming of injured and uninjured toes (INJ, 0.5° ± 0.1°C/min; CON, 0.7° ± 0.3°C/min; P = .16). Although the INJ alpinists had colder injured fingers immediately after the 35°C warm bath compared with their own uninjured fingers (32.2° ± 2.0°C vs 34.5° ± 0.5°C; P = .02), there were no differences observed between the rates of rewarming of injured and uninjured fingers after cold exposure (INJ, 1.1° ± 0.2°C/min; CON, 1.3° ± 0.5°C/min; P = .22).

CONCLUSIONS

Even after FCI that requires digit amputation, there is no evidence of different tissue rates of rewarming between the injured and uninjured fingers or toes of elite alpinists.