Risk of Injury
How do injuries occur in tug of war?
Tug of war
In addition to injuries from falling and back strains, (some of which may be serious), catastrophic injuries may result in the form of finger, hand or even arm amputations. Amputations or avulsions may result from two causes: looping or wrapping the rope around a hand or wrist, and from the elastic recoil of the broken rope if the rope breaks. Amateur organizers of tugs of war may underestimate the forces generated, or overestimate the breaking strength of common ropes, and may thus be unaware of the possible consequences if a rope parts in peoples' hands under tons of tension. The broken ends of an elastic polymer such as common nylon reach high speeds and can easily sever fingers. For this reason, specially engineered tug of war ropes exist that can withstand the forces generated. Some notable tug of war accidents include: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, June 13, 1978, rope parted, five teenagers lost fingers or fingertips, 200 other injuries. Chattanooga, Tennessee, June 9, 1995, a man had his hand torn off (avulsion) by sudden pull (his hand was in a loop). Taipei, Taiwan, October 25, 1997, rope parted, two men suffered arm amputations (details below). Australia, September, 2002, 11-year-old boy had several fingers cut to the bone and nearly severed. Denver, Colorado, October 12, 2007, two teenage boys, rope looped around hands, suffered hand amputations. Digby, Nova Scotia, October 25, 2010, rope looped around hand, man lost four fingers. El Monte, California, February 4, 2013, rope parted, teenage boy and girl each suffered multi-finger amputations. Budapest, Hungary, September 17, 2013, rope parted, seven student injured, three of them severely.