Zorbing – effectively throwing yourself down a slope in a giant ball – was invented in New Zealand in 2000 and is now a popular extreme adventure sport around the world.
via BBC News – Russia investigates horrific ‘zorb’ ride death.
Email me or post a comment if you have a good source for Zorbing accident and mortality statistics.
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Image courtesy of University of Miami-Jackson Memorial Hospital.
Commercial Fishing Deaths — United States, 2000–2009
Commercial fishing is one of the most dangerous occupations in the United States (1). During 1992–2008, an annual average of 58 reported deaths occurred (128 deaths per 100,000 workers) (1), compared with an average of 5,894 deaths (four per 100,000 workers) among all U.S. workers. During the 1990s, safety interventions addressing specific hazards identified in Alaska resulted in a significant decline in the state’s commercial fishing fatality rate (2). During 2007–2010, CDC expanded surveillance of commercial fishing fatalities to the rest of the country’s fishing areas. To review the hazards and risk factors for occupational mortality in the U.S. commercial fishing industry, and to explore how hazards and risk factors differ among fisheries and locations, CDC collected and analyzed data on each fatality reported during 2000–2009. This report summarizes the results, which showed that, among the 504 U.S. commercial fishing deaths, the majority occurred after a vessel disaster (261 deaths, 52%) or a fall overboard (155 deaths, 31%). By region, 133 (26%) deaths occurred off the coast of Alaska, 124 (25%) in the Northeast, 116 (23%) in the Gulf of Mexico, 83 (16%) off the West Coast, and 41 (8%) in the Mid- and South Atlantic. Type of fishing was known in 478 deaths; shellfish (226, 47%) was the most common, followed by groundfish (144, 30%) and pelagic fish (97, 20%). To reduce fatalities in this industry, additional prevention measures tailored to specific high-risk fisheries and focusing on prevention of vessel disasters and falls overboard are needed.
There is a link to the original study in PDF format within the AAFP article.
“Caffeine appears to reduce subjective perceptions of alcohol intoxication, but it does not ameliorate the performance deficits produced by alcohol,” said Thombs. “(Individuals) are more alert but just as behaviorally impaired as if they did not consume caffeine.”
Car wrecks may be the most significant and well-documented adverse health effect of smoking marijuana, as clear evidence that it causes schizophrenia or other health problems is largely missing, a literature review showed.
Overall, “the public health burden of cannabis use is probably modest compared with that of alcohol, tobacco, and other illicit drugs,” Australian researchers reported in the Oct. 17 issue of The Lancet.
U.S. Military Combats Rising Motorcycle Fatalities : NPR
In 2008, more service members died in motorcycle crashes than ever before — 126 from all four services. The Army saw a 24 percent increase in fatalities, and both the Marines and the Navy report significant increases as well. Top safety chiefs across the military have identified motorcycles as the No. 1 safety concern off the battlefield.
lifeunderwriter.net 
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