Estonian hospital says at least one child arrives daily after e-scooter accidents
An Estonian ER doctor says Tallinn Children's Hospital now sees at least one electric scooter injury a day, with most serious accidents caused by riders losing balance rather than collisions.
Kadri Ustav, an ER doctor-resident at the North Estonia Medical Centre (PERH), says that lately at least one child has been arriving daily at Tallinn Children's Hospital due to an electric scooter accident. She noted that PERH itself recorded nearly 400 such accidents last year, a figure that includes adult patients.
According to Ustav, most severe injuries are not the result of collisions with another vehicle or pedestrian. Roughly 80 percent of serious scooter accidents happen simply because the rider loses balance and falls. She identified excessive speed and not wearing a helmet as the main causes behind the most severe cases.
Among adults, another common problem is multiple people riding a single scooter at once. Ustav added that most adult riders involved in accidents at PERH had consumed alcohol, which impaired their decision-making.
Life in the ER
Describing her work in the emergency room, Ustav said staff encounter a wide range of cases, from elderly patients with chronic illnesses to severe traffic accidents and poisonings. She stressed the importance of the triage nurse's role in quickly identifying which patients need help most urgently.
Ustav encouraged people to better understand their own health, noting that many reasons people come to the ER — such as a tick bite, fever, cough or cold — can typically be treated at home. She said people should only go to the ER when nothing else helps, or in cases requiring immediate attention, such as severe chest pain radiating into the arm, serious trauma, or a deep cut. She also noted that PERH's ER only handles the most severe accidents involving children, while less serious child injuries are treated elsewhere.
