• Robert P Olympia, Jodi Brady, Valerie Rupp, and Cheryl Lansenderfer.
• Department of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania 17033, USA.
• J Emerg Med. 2011 Jul 1;41(1):14-20.

BackgroundThere are limited published data examining Emergency Department (ED) presentations associated with amusement parks, and even fewer data on presentations not associated with roller coaster rides.Study ObjectivesTo determine the spectrum of medical and traumatic presentations to two EDs from nearby amusement parks.MethodsA retrospective chart review of prospectively identified, enrolled, and surveyed patients was conducted at two EDs in Pennsylvania during the summer of 2006. Any patient presenting with a medical or traumatic complaint that occurred within 12 h of ED presentation and was associated with a visit to the local amusement park was prospectively identified and details of the visit were retrospectively reviewed.ResultsThere were a total of 325 discharge diagnoses for the 296 ED visits identified; 74% of discharge diagnoses were trauma related. The most common traumatic diagnoses were laceration (27%) and head injury or concussion (14%). The most common non-traumatic diagnosis was heat-related illness (24%). Twenty-nine percent of discharge diagnoses were directly associated with amusement park rides. Eighty-nine percent of patients were discharged home. There were no mortalities reported.ConclusionThe majority of ED visits from nearby amusement parks were benign and did not require hospitalization.Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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