Injuries Among Military Paratroopers - Current Evidence and Data Gaps
Abstract
Synthesize scientific evidence regarding military paratrooper injuries to: (1) characterize injury rates, types of injuries, factors. (2) Describe gaps and future study recommendations. RATIONALE: Prior studies describe military parachuting inherent risks or activity as relatively safe; paratroopers receive hazard pay. Prior studies are for individual units/ trainees, only certain acute immediate injuries, and present rates as injuries per jumps, so rates cannot be compared to that from other military activities. FINDINGS: -Current data only reflects ACUTE injuries - not injuries from overall jump exposures over time or in combination with other military exposures. - Airborne trainees have lowest injury rates (6 acute injuries/1000 jumps) due to the emphasis on safety and instructional oversight. - Operational paratroopers have higher injury rate (15 acute injuries/1000 jumps) - in part from unavoidable risk factors, may be also due to less oversight/ recall of safety procedures such as proper paratrooper landing (PLF). - Injury rates could be reduced with parachuting ankle brace (PAB) currently not used - Evidence is not yet adequate to characterize whether recent equipment/procedure changes like the T-11 parachute) have reduced risks or changed the injury distributions (i.e., most common injury types and body regions affected). - Lower extremity/ ankle injuries appear to be most common among trainees; operational paratroopers experience more acute back and spine and head and neck injuries. Compare injury rates (for BOTH acute and overuse) injuries, types and body regions, cost between Active Army paratrooper population and comparison cohort. Use standardized injury definition, body region categories, and injury types (Injury taxonomy, APHC 2017, 2018) in future paratrooper injury studies Identify injured body region/types to suggest equipment and/or procedural changes to reduce injuries.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 2019
- Accession Number
- AD1078708
Entities
People
- Bruce H. Jones
- Ryan Steelman
- Tyson Grier
- Veronique D. Hauschild