Five years of Emergency Medical Services in Shenandoah National Park

Background: Millions of people visit National Parks each year. We evaluated activations of the Emergency Medical System (EMS) in the Shenandoah National Park over 5 years.

Methods: Ecologic description of Park EMS treatments for 2003 through 2007. IRB approval was obtained. Sanitized charts provided by the Park Service were coded for age, sex, type of visit, month and year of visit, location of the visit, and disposition; frequencies and interactions among variables were assessed.

Results: There were 335 EMS activations, increasing over time: 36 in 2003 increased to 86 in 2007. 50.2% patients were male; ages ranged from less than 1 to 86. 28.4% occurred on a trail; 27.5% in a lodge, 20.9% at a campground, and 23.0% on roads. 58.8% of the calls were for an injury. 20 of the injury calls (10.4%) were for injuries related to motorcycle crashes, while 9 were related to motor vehicles (4.6%) and 15 related to biking (7.6%; 22.6% total for vehicles). Although the majority (52.8%) of injuries were from falls, 26 injury cases (13.2%) were related to being outdoors including 17 insect/ tick bites (some with anaphylaxis), 3 snakebites, 4 deer/vehicle crashes, one bear/bicycle and one bear/motorcycle crash.

Conclusions: The number of EMS calls increased over the study period and the majority were for injuries, with a notable number of motorcycle injuries and some outdoor/wilderness associated injuries. These data may help plan EMS support availability, safety planning within the park and provide baseline data for future public safety interventions.