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A team of American researchers have determined that the risk involved in mowing the lawn is higher than many would think.

After studying nearly 10 years of statistics from databases that register the reasons for visiting emergency rooms and hospital administrations, researchers Dr. David Bishai and Vanessa Costilla estimated that nearly 80,000 Americans a year are treated for lawn-mowing-related injuries.

Canada's shorter summer season and smaller population produces fewer injuries per year, yet individuals are still being unnecessarily injured while performing the summertime chore.

According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, 95 people were admitted to Canadian hospitals in 2003-2004 for treatment of lawn-mower injuries, mainly amputations or severe bleeding.

Over the same time, 810 people were treated in Ontario emergency rooms for injuries caused by lawn mowers, the organization said.

“When you consider our summer lawn season is about four months in length, that is about seven Ontarians a day visiting Emergency during that time due to a lawn mower incident,” said Margaret Keresteci, CIHI’s manager of clinical registries.

Many of these types of injuries are entirely preventable if people used common sense and caution, Bishai and others noted.

“I would not say that lawn-mower injuries are the biggest issue in injury in Canada. They’re not. But if they’re preventable, why not prevent them?” asked Alison Macpherson, an injury researcher and professor in York University’s school of kinesiology and health science.

It would appear that Canucks are not immune to the problem, but, thanks to Canadian ingenuity, they do have a creative solution for those injuries when they happen - a drinking game, of sorts!


More on this Topic:
Interactive Poll: Whipper Snipper or Weed Wacker?
Lawnmower Safety: Spare those little piggies.
More Weird Drinks: And other edible oddities from around the world.
Drinking Games: Be the life of the party with your next injury!