On-Line Assessment Of Environmental Characteristics Of Paediatric Bicycling Injuries Alberta, Canada

Background There are few studies on the relationship between the severity of bicycle-related injury in children and characteristics of the built environment. Methods Emergency Medical Services (EMS) 9–1–1 calls completed between 2010–2013 in Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta, Canada for bicycle injury events in children Results Among all paediatric EMS calls that were linked to a health care database, 575 involved bicycle injuries. To date, we have completed 157 location audits using the PEDS instrument with Google Maps. Analysis of audits completed to date indicates 83% of the subjects were male. Almost half (45%) of all injuries occurred on road segments with intersections. Two-thirds of injuries occurred at locations with a lack of street crossing aids. Conclusions We have made progress toward profiling the individual and environmental characteristics of bicycle injuries. Next steps involve completing this process for the remaining injury locations. Injuries requiring hospital admission (i.e., severe injuries) will be compared with the ones that did not (i.e., non-severe injuries) for personal (e.g., age, sex) and location (e.g., presence of intersection) variables.