PMID- 36833909
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20230228
LR  - 20231117
IS  - 1660-4601 (Electronic)
IS  - 1661-7827 (Print)
IS  - 1660-4601 (Linking)
VI  - 20
IP  - 4
DP  - 2023 Feb 12
TI  - BASE Jumping in the Lauterbrunnen Valley: A Retrospective Cohort Study from 2007 
      to 2016.
LID - 10.3390/ijerph20043214 [doi]
LID - 3214
AB  - BACKGROUND: BASE jumping, and especially BASE jumping with the help of wingsuits, 
      is considered one of the most dangerous airborne sports. The valley of 
      Lauterbrunnen in Switzerland has become infamous for the large number of BASE 
      jumps and the high rate of accidents and fatalities. The aim of this study was to 
      evaluate the morbidity and mortality of BASE jumping, to determine the severity 
      of injuries and injury patterns of BASE jumping accidents and to compare 
      preclinical assessment with clinical diagnoses to detect under- or overtriage. 
      METHODS: This retrospective, descriptive cohort study covers a period of 10 years 
      (2007-2016). The evaluation covered all BASE jumping incidents in the valley of 
      Lauterbrunnen that required either a helicopter mission by the local HEMS 
      (Helicopter Emergency Medical Service) company of Lauterbrunnen, Air Glaciers, or 
      medical care in the regional hospital, the level I trauma centre or the medical 
      practice of the local general practitioner. Besides demographic data, experience 
      in BASE jumping and skydiving as well as BASE jumping technique(s) and details 
      about the rescue missions were collected. The medical data focused on the 
      severity of injuries, as expressed by the National Advisory Committee of 
      Aeronautics (NACA) score in the prehospital assessment as well as the Abbreviated 
      Injury Scale (AIS) and Injury Severity Score (ISS) retrieved from the clinical 
      records in the hospital or medical practice setting. RESULTS: The patients were 
      predominantly young, experienced male BASE jumpers. Morbidity (injury risk) 
      ranged from 0.05% to 0.2%, and fatality risk from 0.02% to 0.08%. Undertriage was 
      low, with only two cases. Overtriage was significant, with 73.2% of all NACA 4-6 
      cases not qualifying for major trauma. CONCLUSIONS: BASE jumping remains a 
      high-risk sport and is associated with significant rates of injuries and 
      fatalities. Comparison with previous studies indicated that the injury rate may 
      have decreased, but the fatality rate had not. In this known BASE jumping 
      environment, prehospital assessment appears to be good, as we found a low 
      undertriage rate. The high overtriage rate might be an expression of physicians' 
      awareness of high-velocity trauma mechanisms and possible deceleration injuries.
FAU - Brodmann Maeder, Monika
AU  - Brodmann Maeder M
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0001-5608-7887
AD  - Department of Emergency Medicine, Bern University Hospital, Bern University, 3010 
      Bern, Switzerland.
AD  - Institute of Mountain Emergency Medicine, EURAC Research, 39100 Bolzano, Italy.
FAU - Andenmatten, Simon
AU  - Andenmatten S
AD  - Department of Emergency Medicine, Bern University Hospital, Bern University, 3010 
      Bern, Switzerland.
FAU - Lienert, Jasmin Sumiko
AU  - Lienert JS
AD  - Hopital Cantonal de Fribourg, 1708 Fribourg, Switzerland.
FAU - Von Wyl, Thomas
AU  - Von Wyl T
AD  - Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care, Hospital Interlaken, 3800 Interlaken, 
      Switzerland.
FAU - Exadaktylos, Aristomenis K
AU  - Exadaktylos AK
AD  - Department of Emergency Medicine, Bern University Hospital, Bern University, 3010 
      Bern, Switzerland.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20230212
PL  - Switzerland
TA  - Int J Environ Res Public Health
JT  - International journal of environmental research and public health
JID - 101238455
SB  - IM
MH  - Humans
MH  - Male
MH  - Retrospective Studies
MH  - Cohort Studies
MH  - *Emergency Medical Services
MH  - Aircraft
MH  - Injury Severity Score
MH  - *General Practitioners
PMC - PMC9965376
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - BASE Jumping
OT  - ISS
OT  - NACA
OT  - emergency medicine
OT  - evacuation
OT  - extreme sports
OT  - trauma
COIS- The authors declare no conflict of interest.
EDAT- 2023/02/26 06:00
MHDA- 2023/03/03 06:00
PMCR- 2023/02/12
CRDT- 2023/02/25 02:25
PHST- 2022/12/27 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2023/02/05 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2023/02/07 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2023/02/25 02:25 [entrez]
PHST- 2023/02/26 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2023/03/03 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2023/02/12 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - ijerph20043214 [pii]
AID - ijerph-20-03214 [pii]
AID - 10.3390/ijerph20043214 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Feb 12;20(4):3214. doi: 
      10.3390/ijerph20043214.