Two fatalities occurred due to complications from injuries caused by falling from a treestand.įalls from a tree-stand and firearm shootings represent 2 mechanisms for severe hunting-related injuries during the 9-day deer firearm hunting season in Wisconsin. Orthopedic concerns accounted for 79% of the injuries, while general surgical was 50%, and neurosurgical was 12.5%. Injury severity scores (ISS) ranged from 1 to 50. Most of the injuries (18) occurred during the first 3 days of the hunting season, with the remaining 6 injuries taking place around the Thanksgiving holiday period. Treestand injuries accounted for 16 of the 24 injuries treated the rest of the injuries were firearm-related. The majority of hunters were male (95%), with an average age of 44.5 years. Twenty-four patients were treated for hunting-related injuries during the study period. Primary outcomes recorded included patient demographics, mechanism of injury, types of injuries, comorbidities, injury severity scores, and mortality. The study included any patient admitted to the UWHC during the study period with a hunting-related injury entered into the trauma registry. The study was conducted at a level I university tertiary referral trauma center. We compared injury occurrence with Wisconsin DNR statewide hunting-related firearm injury incidence data over the same time frame. We retrospectively reviewed all hunting-related injury patient data entered into the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinic's (UWHC) level I trauma registry from 1999 to 2004, for each 9-day Wisconsin deer hunting firearm season.
Review the experience of a level I trauma center during each of Wisconsin's 9-day deer firearm hunting seasons over a 6-year period and identify potential prevention elements based on the findings. Unfortunately, with the large volume of hunters entering the woods each season, hunting injuries continue to be common. Hunting continues to be a passion and common pastime for many US citizens, especially in rural areas.