The director for the University of Alberta鈥檚 injury prevention centre has questioned the evidence behind the town鈥檚 recent tobogganing closures.
According to Don Voaklander, who is also a professor of public health, there are far fewer emergency room visits for tobogganing than skating, snowboarding, skiing or hockey.
Data from Alberta Health Services shows that there were 544 ER visits across the province for tobogganing injuries in 2014 compared to 7,915 ER visits for hockey.
鈥淚n my experience looking at surveillance data I wouldn鈥檛 consider tobogganing a high-risk activity,鈥� said Voaklander.
Backing up his comments he pointed to the number of ER visits for tobogganing related injuries that required a patient to stay overnight.
Of the 544 ER visits for tobogganing injuries, only three per cent or approximately 16 patients had to stay over night.
In comparison, there were 190 ER visits across the province for curling in 2014, but six per cent or about 11 people required inpatient care. Hockey injuries were the least likely to require overnight care, with approximately 127 patients or 1.6 per cent of ER vists requiring overnight care.
Voaklander said he wasn鈥檛 surprise to hear that Jasper had closed two popular tobogganing areas in late January. A third area at Centennial Park remains open for use.
鈥淚 know municipalities are under tremendous pressure to keep costs down regarding possible litigation and their insurance costs,鈥� said Voaklander.
He said similar closures have taken place in Calgary where there are now 18 designated spots. Those that are caught sliding elsewhere in the city could face a $100 fine.
In Hamilton the city completely banned tobogganing in 2015 after a local lawyer was injured while tobogganing and successfully sued the city for $900,000. In 2016 the city rescinded its ban after pressure from residents. The city ultimately designated four hills聽for tobogganing.
鈥淎 risk management guy is going to give you the worst-case scenario all the time because he鈥檚 telling you how to manage your risks,鈥� said Voaklander.
Doug Wysman, the risk management consultant who advised the town to close Snape鈥檚 hill and the church hill, pushed back.
鈥淣o one appreciates the value of recreational activities more than I. I have spent many years championing the cause for things like skate parks, bike parks, trails, playgrounds and yes... toboggan hills,鈥� he wrote in an email.
鈥淚鈥檓 comfortable with our recommendation to the Town of Jasper that these hills be closed pending an attempt to address safety concerns. I believe the public would have been a lot more upset if I ignored my experience and said 鈥榳hat the heck let鈥檚 see what happens.鈥欌��
Voaklander said the town should have looked at the evidence before making such a quick decision.
鈥淚f people have been tobogganing on these hills for years the first thing I would do is look at some local data from the emergency department people go to and see what鈥檚 happening there to see if there鈥檚 a problem.鈥�
He said he would also look at how people are using the hill, how people are getting injured and also dig up any police reports to see how serious the problem actually is.
鈥淭hey should look at all aspects of it.鈥�
After reviewing the data himself, Wyseman said he wasn鈥檛 surprised that hockey, skating, skiing and snowboarding all have higher frequencies of injuries.
鈥淯sing data from the local hospital would show info from those hills, but we all know nothing substantial has happened (in Jasper) yet. The statistics from Alberta as a whole clearly demonstrate the cause for concern and were used to try to let local people know that such accidents do regularly occur across the province,鈥� wrote Wyseman.
He said he also didn鈥檛 understand Voaklander鈥檚 argument that municipalities are restricting tobogganing to keep insurance and litigation costs down.
鈥淣o municipality wants to be found at fault for an injury to a member of the public and no taxpayer wants their tax dollars to have to pay for the town鈥檚 failure to act in a reasonably prudent fashion.鈥�
Like many in the community, Voaklander suggested there are several possible ways to mitigate the risks such as removing signs and using bales of hay to stop people from straying onto the roadway.
鈥淜ids have such few spontaneous recreational opportunities these days, so to take something that we all grew up with away without some careful thought put into it I think is a tragedy.鈥�
CAO Mark Fercho said seven residents have stepped forward to create a working group to find ways to mitigate the risks.
To help guide the group, a risk manager for the town鈥檚 insurance company (Genesis) and the town鈥檚 risk management consultant have offered to lend their knowledge to review the ideas. Voaklander has also assigned one of his senior staff to help.
Paul Clarke
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