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Drowning is a leading cause of death worldwide. To examine the characteristics of newsworthy aquatic fatalities, we examined aquatic-related fatalities listed as Darwin Award Nominees (2003-2012). The primary objective of our examinations was to review the circumstances surrounding the fatalities. We found twelve fatalities. The majority occurred in the USA (n = 8) to persons who were engaged in a recreational activity (n = 9) with one or more observers present (n = 8). Alcohol was believed to be involved in four cases as was flood water in four others (n = 4). We identified multiple possible prevention strategies that were available for all cases. While media is an important conduit for prevention messages, it often focuses on the unusual and lacks any discussion about prevention. While many of the Darwin Awards fatalities were considered unusual, we would argue that many actually were common scenarios such as drowning in flood water, having consumed alcohol then participating in aquatic activity, as well as engaging in other risk-taking behaviors in an aquatic setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Aeromedical services are an essential part of the healthcare system. Centralised coordination of aeromedical retrieval tasking offers benefits for safety, timeliness and efficiency in service delivery. The aim of the present study is to review aeromedical retrievals in Queensland exploring patient demographics, temporal patterns and usage characteristics. Methods: This is a retrospective cases series for the period 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2014 incorporating data from Retrieval Services Queensland and Queensland Newborn Emergency Transport Service. Ethics approval was obtained (JCU‐HREC H6137 and Public Health Act #RD005673). Descriptive analysis of the de‐identified data was undertaken included patient demographics, referral and receiving locations, retrieval platform and acuity of transport request. Results: There were 73 042 aeromedical retrievals undertaken during the period, with an average of 40 cases per day (range 16–89). The majority (95%) of retrievals were for Queensland residents. Overall 23.1% of cases were cardiology‐related and 12.7% were injury‐related. Older adults aged 75–84 years had the highest rate of retrievals relative to the population with a crude rate of 942.4 per 100 000 per annum. Overall 14.9% of cases were Priority 1, which represents the tasking with the highest acuity but majority were Priority 4 (41.6%). One third (37.6%) of all patients were from inner regional locations. Conclusions: Potential investments in health service planning may alleviate the burden on aeromedical services, particularly related to cardiology services in inner and outer regional Queensland. Aeromedical services are pivotal in enabling all sick and injured residents' access to the highest quality of care regardless of the remoteness of their residence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Agricultural vehicles are a common sight on rural public roads. However, due to their larger mass (height, width, length, and weight), there are concerns about safety. The aim of this paper is to explore crash incidents on public roads of agricultural vehicles to determine the size of the problem, risk factors, and potential prevention strategies. Methods: A systematic review using the PRISMA guidelines was undertaken of peer-reviewed literature from Medline, Agricola, Scopus, PsycInfo, Science Direct, Web of Science, and SafetyLit. Crash incident rates, risk factors, and prevention strategies were extracted from the articles, and a review of quality was undertaken using McMasters guidelines. Results: Included in the review were 30 articles, with the majority from the United States. Crash risk rates, where reported, were low relative to agricultural vehicle use and when compared to overall road crash numbers. Crash risk factors included weather and visibility, age, personal and driving characteristics, road conditions, and event characteristics. Prevention strategies proposed were targeted at drivers and operators, vehicles, road design, driving behavior, and surveillance, policy, and technology. Conclusions: Overall, reported crash numbers involving large agricultural vehicles were low. Currently, there is limited capacity to calculate exposure rates compounded by the difficulties in identifying road incidents that involve agriculture vehicles. Better surveillance systems are required to improve our understanding of exposure and crash incident rates. Future research into the multiplicity of interrelated factors involved in agriculture vehicle crashes on roads, exposure rates, and evidence for the effectiveness of the prevention strategies is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]