Since 2007-2008, we have engaged in a campaign targeting ATV and snowmobile injuries in youth in our health region.
We partnered with the ACICR, local schools, parents, a Friendship Centre, local agencies and industry, and various
other stakeholder groups to develop and deliver the program to
interested parents and others in our community who are in a position to influence youth with respect to the use of these vehicles.
All the participants had to do was eat, watch, listen, talk, and share their insights!
The project overview and links to the fascinating results are listed on the menu to the right.
Background
Over the last few years, Alberta has had a notoriously high injury problem with respect to all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and snowmobiles. The ACICR, for instance, reports that whereas in all of Canada, children and adolescents make up about 25% of ATV-related deaths, in Alberta, they make up a notably higher proportion - about 38%. In a report issued by KidSafe, it was noted that in 2002-03, ATV activities became the most common sport and recreational related major traumas in our province.
In addition, it is consistently the position of various local, national, and international bodies (e.g., Capital Health Region, ACICR, Canadian Paediatric Society, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons) that the use of ATVs and snowmobiles by young people should be extremely limited. In general, the positions adopted tend to include recommendations such as that children younger than 16 years of age should not operate ATVs and children should never ride as passengers on ATVs.
Our Health Region ranks worse than most other rural and urban regions especially for ATV-related injuries and deaths in young people. In the areas within the Aspen Health Region that our program serves, ambulance personnel, teachers, and others have identified a disturbing trend that they predict will cause the statistics for ATV and snowmobile injuries to become even more disturbing – one grade 6 classroom, for instance, was noted to include 4 students regularly put in sole control of powerful, racing snowmobiles this winter, and our presenters have been hearing from their 13- and 14-year-old grade 9 students of expectations for ATV stunts and exploits in the spring and summer. We believe that underlying the staggering statistics is a basic lack of knowledge in key areas.