Casey et al. International Journal of Emergency Medicine 2012, 5:28 http://www.intjem.com/content/5/1/28 Page 4 of 7 Figure 1 Patient medical record selection. fall-related injuries. Burns were most common in children under 5 years of age, 45.5% (95% CI 25.2, 67.3). There was a distinctively male majority for nearly all mechanisms of injury except bite wounds and poisoning. Location and type of injury Evaluation of the injury location demonstrates a signifi- cant pattern of head/neck or extremity injury as either isolated or multi-system injury. Head injuries accounted for 21.0% (95% CI 18.6, 23.7) of isolated injuries and were involved in 15.0% (95% CI 12.9, 17.45) of patients suffering multi-organ system injury. Likewise, injured extremities accounted for almost half, 46.4% (95% CI 43.3, 49.5), of all isolated traumatic injuries and 13.1% (95% CI 11.1, 15.4) of multi-organ system injuries. Consistent with injury location, the most common types of injury were fractures and traumatic brain injury (TBI). Fractures of the extremities occurred in 44.1% (95% CI 41.0, 47.2) of injured patients, most of which, 77.2%, were closed. TBI, including patients with intra- cranial hemorrhage and skull fractures, were documen- ted in 28.7% (95% CI 25.9, 31.6) of injured patients. Blunt trauma resulted in more injuries to the chest, ab- domen and pelvis including lung contusions, hemo- pneumothoraces, solid organ injuries and visceral injuries. The majority of injuries, 81%, were documented as unintentional trauma. Injury severity Head injury was associated with increased mortality, OR 5.76 (95% CI 2.57, 12.92). No other injury location was clearly associated with mortality (Table 1). Head, abdom- inal and spinal injury were also associated with severe injury, OR 3.31 (95% CI 2.23, 4.98), 6.04 (95% CI 3.45, 10.44) and 19.95 (95% CI 6.55, 73.75), respectively, as defined by the WHO Injury Surveillance Guidelines.8 No specific mechanism of injury was clearly associated with higher mortality or severity of injury. Patient disposition and outcomes The majority of injured patients, 59.3% (95% CI 56.1, 62.3), were admitted from the emergency department at to the hospital wards. A minority of patients, 5.6% (95% CI 4.4, 7.4), required admission to an intensive care unit. The remainder were evaluated in the emergency depart- ment, and subsequently treated and released without hospitalization. During hospitalization a substantial minor- ity, 37.8% (95% CI 33.9, 40.0), of patients required surgical intervention. Death, either prior to arrival in the emer- gency department, while in the emergency department or