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Accidents occurring to individuals who experience e-scooters value Irish hospitals a mean of €1,726 per affected person, and researchers have calculated the overall general value to at least one hospital in a single 12 months was €128,650.
Dr. Thomas Suttie, a senior home officer in emergency drugs at Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown, Abbotstown, Dublin, Eire, advised the European Emergency Medication Congress in the present day (Monday): “In 2021 we published the number of patients who came to the emergency department of our suburban hospital as a result of e-scooter injuries, and recently we published an update that showed these figures had more than tripled in 2023. Today I am presenting the results of the follow-on project to delineate the financial costs of them. We believe this is the first study that quantifies these costs in Ireland.”
Dr. Suttie and colleagues gathered information on the price of emergency division attendances, admissions to acute care wards of their hospital, radiological investigations, surgical procedure and outpatient attendances for the 76 sufferers who introduced on the hospital with accidents from e-scooter accidents in 2023.
E-scooter accidents have been primarily musculoskeletal, typically involving complicated trauma that required main surgical procedure.
“These often placed a burden on our orthopedic colleagues, as these patients required orthopedic follow-up with or without surgery or hospital admission. Thirteen patients required orthopedic admission and 34 patients, including those who were admitted, required outpatient follow-up,” stated Dr. Suttie. “The other type of injury was usually head injuries, which did not require medical intervention. There were no deaths among the patients with head injuries, nor were they admitted to the intensive care unit.”
The researchers discovered that their suburban hospital spent €128,650 in 2023 on treating e-scooter accidents. Along with the typical value per affected person of €1,726, the overall value of emergency division attendance was €35,264; the overall value of following up these sufferers as outpatients was €17,380; and the overall value of hospital admission was €75,600.
“The costs were staggering,” stated Dr. Suttie. “We knew there was a novel burden on our emergency department and orthopedic team from e-scooter injuries, but it was interesting to discover how much they cost.”
The researchers consider their findings may be extrapolated to different hospitals in Eire and the prices may very well be even larger for some.
“As our hospital is a suburban one, it’s not the place the vast majority of e-scooter using and accidents happen in Dublin. Dublin’s metropolis middle hospitals would see extra and the price of them is prone to be considerably larger than in our hospital.
“E-scooter accidents are related to important prices and place a further problem on an already stretched well being care system. Additional funding must be made accessible to deal with them and alleviate the burden that has been positioned on well being care providers.
“Changes to legislation and public health measures, such as making helmets compulsory or ensuring e-scooters comply with new and existing legislation and that these points continue to be enforced, could make a big impact on the number of injuries, the cost to users and to the health service,” concluded Dr. Suttie.
A second summary introduced on the congress as a poster appeared on the outcomes in Dublin of latest modifications within the regulation for e-scooters in Eire. From Might 2024, e-scooters may very well be ridden on roads however the riders should be over 16 and cling to the 20 km an hour pace restrict. The research discovered that accidents to these aged below 16 decreased, however the general harm fee elevated, helmet use dropped, and the involvement of alcohol or substance abuse elevated amongst injured sufferers. Admissions to hospitals additionally elevated.
Dr. Felix Lorang is a member of the EUSEM summary choice committee. He’s head of the emergency division at SRH Zentralklinikum Suhl, Thuringia, Germany, and was not concerned with the analysis. He stated, “E-scooter use has risen exponentially lately in a number of European international locations, together with Eire. The research by Dr. Suttie and colleagues reveal the massive elevated value to at least one hospital of admitting and treating sufferers with accidents brought on by using e-scooters.
“Though only looking at costs, these data show that hospitals all over Europe will face a rising burden of patients with e-scooter-related injuries. This suggests that we need to take steps not only to make e-scooter use safer, but also to prepare for different kinds of injuries to those we are used to seeing.”
Extra data:
Summary no: OA152, “Retrospective review and cost-based analysis of electric scooter (e-scooter) injuries presenting to an Irish Hospital” by Thomas Suttie, oral summary session on trauma, Monday 29 September, 11:00-12:30 hrs CEST, Schubert 5 room: https://eusem.floq.dwell/kiosk/eusem-2025/dailyprogramme?objectClass=timeslot&objectId=68871e9e626af251d24be29f&kind=element⮐
Summary no: POS409, “Electric scooter-related maxillofacial injuries: outcome of recent legislation change in Ireland”, by Min Search engine marketing Jung, ‘Medical coverage, laws & well-being’ poster show session, Monday 29 September, 09:40-09:45 hrs CEST, Exhibition Corridor, display screen #4: https://eusem.floq.dwell/kiosk/eusem-2025/dailyprogramme?objectClass=timeslot&objectId=688b3df66c3b82a56f1cfc97&kind=element
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European Society for Emergency Medication
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‘Staggering’ prices of e-scooter accidents are quantified for the primary time for hospitals in Eire (2025, September 28)
retrieved 28 September 2025
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