Patient research: Almost half those injured in a certain type of bus accident are over 65, according to new research. The findings have prompted a call for bus and train drivers to be given special training to ensure older people's safety.
Researchers from St James's Hospital and the Adelaide and Meath hospitals at Tallaght looked at patients who had sustained non-collision injuries when travelling by bus, who subsequently presented to the accident and emergency departments of both hospitals over 12 months.
Some 43.5 per cent of the 62 non-collision injuries were sustained by people over 65, a percentage well in excess of the 8 per cent of older people who use public transport. Older people were also substantially over-represented in injuries that occurred while boarding and alighting from a bus.
Of 12 injuries that occurred on the stairs of a bus, 50 per cent were sustained by over-65s. And, in the case of acceleration and deceleration injuries, some 33 per cent occurred in older people.
The research was presented at the weekend to a meeting of specialists in geriatric medicine. It was carried out by medical students Michelle Corcoran, Anne Gallagher and Sean O'Dowd, under the supervision of Patrick Plunkett, consultant in accident and emergency medicine at St James's, and Prof Des O'Neill, associate professor of gerontology at Tallaght hospital. It concluded that "older passengers are particularly vulnerable and over-represented in non-collision injuries on buses".
The issue of buses and safety has been brought into focus by the incident in which two women were seriously injured after they were knocked down by a Dublin bus in Dublin's O'Connell Street recently. One of the victims subsequently died from head injuries at Beaumont Hospital.
Prof O'Neill told The Irish Times the study pointed to the need for preventative strategies for older people travelling on public transport. "I am especially concerned about the dangers associated with sudden starting and stopping and the 'jerkiness' of buses and the Luas," he said.
Calling for Luas, bus and train drivers to receive specific training to ensure the safety of older people, Prof O'Neill, an expert on health, ageing and transport, said there was also a need for further research into bus stability while passengers use the stairs.