Investigator Randy Robbins, DHu, write:
We are nearing the twenty-fifth anniversary of Dr. Peter Barss? landmark paper, ?Injuries due to falling coconuts,? published in J Trauma. 1984;24(11):990-991. Although this paper received an Ig Nobel Prize in 2001, it stands as possibly the most recent literature to deal with this isolated, yet dangerous, phenomenon. Sadly, the very antiquity of Dr. Barss? article reflects our discipline?s unfortunate neglect of such tragic injuries.
My concern is that the potential increase in coconut-related injuries and fatalities since Dr. Barss? paper has yet to be addressed. The present population of Papua New Guinea?a segment of which on whom Dr. Barss bases his data and case studies?is now 5.67 million inhabitants.[1] Furthermore, the current total population of Oceania is approximately 31 million.[2] Dr. Barss? 2.5% rate of hospital admissions in Papua New Guinea for coconut-related injuries may seem trivial at first glance, but when extrapolated across the whole of Oceania, a region thick with coconut palms, the numbers of potential dead and injured become alarming?even pandemic.
We can save untold lives and preserve life for those few who still fall prey to such tragedy. But we cannot do so if we go twenty-five years between studies and permit such threats to fade into the background until it takes a wide-scale calamity to illustrate our ignorance and stupidity.
REFERENCES
1. WorldAtlas.Com facts and figures. Accessed on April 19, 2004.
2. Caldwell J, Missingham B, Marck J. The population of Oceania in the second millennium. Paper from the Australian National University, Canberra. Canberra, Australia,