All the fun of the fair?

Alton Towers, Busch Gardens, Disney World, Six Flags, Cedar Point are some of the most popular amusement parks in the world. In 2004 more than 328 million people worldwide visited an amusement park. These parks not only offer experiences beyond our normal lives but they also enable a different type of getaway from the daily grind, and they cater to people of all ages and for whole families.

At New Jersey's Six Flags park is the Kingda Ka-the tallest and fastest rollercoaster in the world. It propels visitors to speeds of 206 km/h and through a 270 degree loop, making passengers feel weightless1. In direct proportion to the increasing concentrations of adrenaline and thrill enabled by more and more sophisticated attractions such as rollercoasters, however, are greater risk and danger. Fun, unfortunately, is sometimes accompanied by injuries and death.

Between 15 May 1994 and 14 May 2004, 40 people in the United States, aged 7 to 77 years, died in incidents involving rollercoasters, with 73% of deaths in rollercoaster patrons2. Braksiek and Roberts wrote that since 1979 reports in the medical literature of injuries related to rollercoasters comprised four subdural haematomas, four internal carotid artery dissections, two vertebral artery dissections, two subarachnoid haemorrhages, one intraparenchymal haemorrhage, and one carotid artery thrombosis with stroke3. Eleven of the deaths were from external causes related to injuries from falls or collisions2.

Yamakami …