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Injuries caused by airbags: a review

Emergency Department, Charing Cross Hospital, London, UK

LA Wallis

Division of Emergency Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa, leewallis{at}bovleivalleyretreat.co.za

With the number of vehicles on the road increasing, the safety aspects of motoring are becoming a progressively more important consideration in health care provision and policy. Airbags are a relatively new introduction into our vehicles. Unlike other mechanisms such as seat belts, they offer protection without the need for any action on the part of the occupant. However, the necessarily violent nature of their deployment has led to the emergence of patterns of injury as a direct result. Knowledge of the potential dangers posed by these systems is useful both for emergency department physicians in order to prevent important injuries being missed, and for car manufacturers using increas ingly modern technology to design more efficient mechanisms. We undertook a review of the current literature to ascertain the spectrum of injuries that have been attributed to the use of airbags, while putting this into the wider context of their protective contribution.

Key Words: airbag • injury prevention • motor vehicle crash

Trauma, Vol. 6, No. 4, 271-278 (2004)
DOI: 10.1191/1460408604ta321oa


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