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Pediatricians in Canada warn of 'exponential rise in childhood e-scooter injuries · THE DAILY BRIEF

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  Speaker 1: Electric scooters are quickly becoming the summertime transport for so
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  Speaker 1: many Canadians. You see them everywhere, But doctors across the
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  Speaker 1: country are warning e scooters are dangerous in the hands
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  Speaker 1: of children and in some cases, even deadly, and they're
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  Speaker 1: warning that safety regulations aren't keeping up. A new survey
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  Speaker 1: from the Canadian Pediatric Society suggests the situation is getting worse.
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  Speaker 1: They found there have been ten deaths over the past
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  Speaker 1: twelve months. In that time period, there have also been
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  Speaker 1: twelve ICU admissions and twenty six hospitalizations lasting over two days,
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  Speaker 1: and head injuries in about half the cases. For more
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  Speaker 1: on this, we've reached doctor Sarah McKellan. She is the
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  Speaker 1: chief and medical director of Emergency and Urgent Care at
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  Speaker 1: Trillium Health Partners, joining us today from Mississauga, Ontario. Good morning, doctor,
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  Speaker 1: So I want you to bring me into your emergency room.
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  Speaker 1: Tell me what have you been seeing.
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  Speaker 2: It's really an important topic. We've seen a big increase
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  Speaker 2: in injuries over the past year. It's gone up over
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  Speaker 2: seventy percent year over year. And you know, we see
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  Speaker 2: all types of injuries, a lot of head injuries, upper
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  Speaker 2: extremity injuries like wrist fractures in just a lot of scrapes, bruises,
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  Speaker 2: and I don't think parents realize how significant some of
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  Speaker 2: these injuries can be. Even if you're not admitted to
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  Speaker 2: the hospital, having a concussion or a broken arm can
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  Speaker 2: really impact a child's you know, next few months. So
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  Speaker 2: this is an important topic.
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  Speaker 1: Seventy percent increase year over year, you must be incredibly
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  Speaker 1: concerned what you're seeing.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's certainly a topic that many emergency doctors are
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  Speaker 2: concerned about. We see it on our shifts daily, and
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  Speaker 2: I don't even think the data is keeping up with
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  Speaker 2: the number of injuries. Often eastcooters aren't necessarily put into
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  Speaker 2: the data, So I think it's an underrepresentation too of
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  Speaker 2: what we're seeing because we're seeing these types of injuries,
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  Speaker 2: you know, every day on shift.
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  Speaker 1: Interesting. So, I mean, the popularity of these devices are spreading,
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  Speaker 1: but the data is lagging behind. Let's talk about communication.
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  Speaker 1: How does getting the message out about kind of the
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  Speaker 1: proper use of these micro mobile devices need to change?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's hard. Parents don't realize some of
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  Speaker 2: the dangers and so maybe aren't translating that information to
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  Speaker 2: their kids. And the policies between jurisdictions are different. In
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  Speaker 2: Toronto there's no escooters riding, but obviously that probably isn't happening.
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  Speaker 2: And in Mississauga you can rent scooters on the street,
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  Speaker 2: and so, you know, I don't think that the messages
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  Speaker 2: getting out there. There are lots of kids riding them,
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  Speaker 2: and I just don't think parents understand how dangerous and
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  Speaker 2: how fast these these devices can go and the injuries
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  Speaker 2: that can be our consequence. They don't always follow the
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  Speaker 2: rules of the road either, you know. I don't think
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  Speaker 2: the East scooters are going on roads, on sidewalks, and
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  Speaker 2: it's really disruptive to pedestrians as well.
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  Speaker 1: I do a fair amount of cycling in Toronto coming
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  Speaker 1: to work here and then I'm regularly have to dodge
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  Speaker 1: and weave around. Certainly very popular in this city and
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  Speaker 1: many other Canadian cities. Let's talk about rules and regulations.
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  Speaker 1: What are they, What are the limits on these East
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  Speaker 1: scooters and what would you like to see to you know,
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  Speaker 1: change that traffic coming into your emergency rooms.
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  Speaker 2: So good question. I think it also varies between jurisdictions.
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  Speaker 2: In Toronto, there you know, no eastcooters are allowed period, whereas
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  Speaker 2: the Mississauga East scooters are allowed on roads but not sidewalks,
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  Speaker 2: and are supposed to be only for youth over sixteen,
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  Speaker 2: and certainly those rules aren't necessarily out there. I don't
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  Speaker 2: think parents know that you're supposed to be sixteen to
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  Speaker 2: be riding them. But it's similar to a car. You
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  Speaker 2: need to know the rules of the road in order
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  Speaker 2: to drive these things.
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  Speaker 1: So you'd like to be a little more stringent rules
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  Speaker 1: about the ages. I mean. The thing is, I think
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  Speaker 1: part of the popularity of these East scooters is that
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  Speaker 1: this is accessible and it's affordable, and it has changed
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  Speaker 1: to for so many So how are we supposed to
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  Speaker 1: kind of balance the freedom it's giving some Canadians with
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  Speaker 1: your concerns about just safety.
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  Speaker 2: It's really important that people understand the rules of the
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  Speaker 2: road when driving them. Of course, they're much more reasonable
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  Speaker 2: than cars to get to work and commuting, and so
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  Speaker 2: I think for certain populations it's a great tool to
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  Speaker 2: support their commute and their day to day activities. However,
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  Speaker 2: for youth, they're often used as toys and not as vehicles,
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  Speaker 2: and so I think people really need to understand how
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  Speaker 2: they should be used. They're not toys, they shouldn't be
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  Speaker 2: double ridden people need to be wearing helmets, they need
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  Speaker 2: to follow the rules such as stop signs and the speeds.
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  Speaker 2: I think some people even modify them to go faster. Luckily,
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  Speaker 2: the ones that are done by the city rental program
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  Speaker 2: only go up to twenty four kilometers an hour, but
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  Speaker 2: that's still much faster than say a kid would ride
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  Speaker 2: a bike. So they are high speed electric vehicles and
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  Speaker 2: they need to be treated as such.
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  Speaker 1: They can go very quick indeed, and when they stop
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  Speaker 1: without warning, that is a dangerous situation. So thank you
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  Speaker 1: so much. These are some good things to keep in
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  Speaker 1: mind as we take a look at how our city
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  Speaker 1: streets are changing. That is doctor Sarah mcloland. She is
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  Speaker 1: the chief and medical director of Emergency and Urgent Care
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  Speaker 1: at Trillium Health Partners in Ontario,