# average accidents requiring emergency care **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 28, 2008, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-accidents-requiring-emergency-care/450917 "2008-05-28T18:40:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sable\_mutt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@sable\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sable_mutt)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-accidents-requiring-emergency-care/450917/1 "2008-05-28T18:40:07Z")
Does anyone know what the average time a person has been to the emergency room (because of an accident) in a lifetime? I was wondering because my son is 24 years old and has been 16 times that I can remember. ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-accidents-requiring-emergency-care/450917/2 "2008-05-28T18:48:50Z")
Can’t give you a factual answer, but that number seems high. My whole family doesn’t total that number. Are these all injuries or does that number include sudden illnesses? Are you forced to use the ED due to lack of health insurance? ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-accidents-requiring-emergency-care/450917/3 "2008-05-28T19:35:26Z")
16 times! I’m 27 and have been there once\* for stitches in the head when I was a child. - - …in 1972, for 20 minutes… ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-accidents-requiring-emergency-care/450917/4 "2008-05-28T19:39:42Z")
That seems _really_ high. I’ve played sports and ridden dirt bikes my whole life, and I don’t need more than one hand to count the times I’ve been to an emergency room (not counting, of course, when I was the captain of our college rugby club and used to drop by the hospital on the way the the social). On the other hand, I’ve had some pretty rough injuries that I’ve had the equipment to deal with, was sure the ER wasn’t going to do anything other than take an X-ray and give me some drugs (which I likely already had), so I’d wait to go to my doctor when it was open. 1985: Skating in the living room, 3 stitches in back of head. 1992: Horsing around, heavily bruised side. 1994: Broken hand playing football. 1998: Cut hand on fence. 2003: Cut hand on glass. Just in case anybody cared 😃 ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-accidents-requiring-emergency-care/450917/5 "2008-05-28T22:00:34Z")
I’m 62, and just had my first injury-related trip to the ER two weeks ago (cut hand on lid of cat food can). 16 times in 24 years seems way above average. Are any of these sports-related? ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-accidents-requiring-emergency-care/450917/6 "2008-05-28T23:09:09Z")
I’m a few days short of 40, and have been in the ER twice. Both for medical reasons, rather than sports or woodworking injuries. Oops, take that back. Three times. Almost forgot about the time 20+ years ago when I was on a city bus that was in an accident and the driver took us all to the hospital that was about two blocks down the road from the accident site. Wasn’t necessary, and I should have just gotten off the bus there and skedaddled. ---
**Author:** ![MadPansy64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@MadPansy64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPansy64)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-accidents-requiring-emergency-care/450917/7 "2008-05-29T02:28:27Z")
Yeah, a bit on the high side, depending on the mitigating factors. I’m 43 and have been to the ER 21 times. Nineteen of those were before I turned 30, thirteen times because I was very active, but not at all graceful and/or had displayed an _extreme_ lack of common sense, a sudden severe UTI on a holiday weekend, and a couple miscarriages. The summer I was 14, I went 6 times. Stepped on a nail (on a weekend), had a reaction to the tetanus shot, fell off a horse, got hung up in the stirrup & dragged, had a reaction to the antibiotic, fell off the barn, and had a damn baby goat break 3 of my ribs. Not exactly “average accidents” so much as badly-timed dumb-assery on my part. (The most recent three were primarily because of my extreme rural location and lack of available, competent, urgent care. So they don’t count). On proofread, perhaps I should change my user name to “Grace, not so much!” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-accidents-requiring-emergency-care/450917/8 "2008-05-29T12:40:26Z")
I’m 62 and as far as I can remember have been twice. Once for an over the handle bars bicycle accident, and once for shoving a screwdriver into my hand. Guess I lead a boring existence. :o