Here's an interesting article from Michigan...
Tree stand accident numbers don't add up
http://www.mlive.com/outdoors/index.ssf/2011/09/tree_stand_accident_numbers_do.html As we come upon the deer hunting seasons, I can’t help but wonder just how many will get hurt. It’s not that deer hunting is unsafe, per se, but most bowhunters -- and an increasing number of gun hunters -- now hunt from elevated platforms and tree stands.
Hunting from 10 to 30 feet off the ground has inherent risks. Those risks increase when hunters are lax about practical safety practices like using a safety harness and making sure a gun is unloaded before it is hauled up or down.
Ohio State University Medical Center published a 10-year study last year showing "tree stands are the leading cause of hunting injuries in Ohio."
Researchers were looking to "debunk the popular stereotypes that most hunting injuries are gunshot wounds," the Medical Center announced when it released its study.
The study examined 130 hunting accident cases at two central Ohio hospitals. Half were because of falls and 92 percent of those falls were from tree stands. Only 29 percent were injuries from gunshot wounds.
Of those who fell, 59 percent suffered fractures: 47 percent had either lower or upper extremity fractures: ankles, legs, shoulders, arms and wrists. Another 18 percent had closed-head injuries -- read brain damage. And 8.2 percent "suffered permanent neurological damage."
Drugs and alcohol were involved in only 10 percent of the cases.
"Most of the hunters were not wearing safety harnesses," said Dr. Charles Cook, the lead author of the study and a trauma surgeon at Ohio State University Medical Center.
In Michigan, the situation appears to be better, but that conclusion is not certain because the state of Michigan doesn’t track tree-stand falls. Hospitals are required to report gun incidents to the state, but not tree-stand falls. No matter that hunters may end up paralyzed.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources also tracks only gunshot accidents. Hunters can voluntarily report tree-stand falls, but the agency otherwise makes little effort to collect that data. And so, we really know very little about how many are falling.
If you look at the DNR’s online hunting accident reports during the past few years, you assume no one has fallen since 2007. That’s when it last listed falls. There were seven falls shown that year along with 32 firearm injuries, including four gunshot fatalities.
The DNR, however, made quite a big deal about having the safest year on record in 2010 with only eight firearm accidents and two fatalities. Nothing was said about tree-stand falls.
But Jackie Wondolowski, the spinal cord program manager for Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital in Grand Rapids, knows otherwise.
"We had two on our SCI (spinal cord injury) program and one admitted to the brain injury program, for a total of three," Wondolowski said. "So far our numbers are down from 2007. Hopefully, the word is getting out."
Hopefully, indeed.
The hospital admitted four tree-stand fall patients in 2009. Three were admitted in 2008. There were 12 in 2007. One had only fractures and was handled by the ER, but three others were hurt so severely the hospital couldn’t admit them.
"We had seven opening weekend (in 2007)," said Wondolowski. "It was ‘Oh my gosh, what is going on?’" she said. "In recent years, we haven’t seen as many."
Mary Free Bed is just one hospital. No one knows how many occurred statewide.
There’s been a lot of liberalizing hunting rules in the past few years and a lot of shrinking government service -- which translates into less data gathering for any number of natural resource programs. That data is the feedback that lets us know when things may be going awry and whether hunting or other policy adjustments are needed.
Say what you will about the need for smaller government; I have no problem with lean, but smaller is not always better.
In this case, I can’t help but think we need a clear and established statewide reporting system for tree-stand accidents.
Sad as it is for anyone who falls and gets injured, having those statistics might help prompt others to be more careful and prompt policy makers to make prudent decisions. A comprehensive report each year also might help reinforce the message that no one should go up into a tree-stand without taking proper precautions.
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Topic: Rethinking Tree Stand Setups/Safety (Read 804 times)
