How dangerous could that laptop, desktop, or Mac sitting in front of you be?

    The first report to count computer-related emergency room injuries shows that each year more and more Americans are tripping over cords, dropping monitors, banging heads and snagging limbs.

    Emergency room visits from computer injuries increased sevenfold between 1994 and 2006, according to a report published June 9 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

    The first report to count computer-related emergency room injuries shows that each year more and more Americans are tripping over cords, dropping monitors, banging heads and snagging limbs.

    Worse, the number of injuries outpaced the number of new computers in the home. While injuries jumped 732 percent, household computer ownership increased by just 309 percent.

    "The numbers look overwhelming but think about how in 2006 we had 115 million emergency room visits in the U.S., then visits from computers was 0.008 percent," said Dr. Charlene Irvin, of the American College of Emergency Physicians.

    Since this study was limited to only 100 hospitals, counting computers injuries from all hospitals would likely bump up that percentage. But Irvin doubts computer woes would ever make the top 10 list.

    While more common causes of emergency room visits such as gunshots and motor vehicle accidental injuries of course got more media attention, she was pleased to see information from external cause of injury codes （e-codes） used to document why people came into the emergency room. Irvin said only 17 states voluntarily submit e-codes.

    Indeed, the report highlighted details that are hard to come by in many emergency room statistics. For instance, computer equipment falling on a person caused more E.R. visits [21.1 percent] than did tripping or falling on the computer, [18.2 percent of visits]. Also, males were more 7 percent more likely to injure themselves on the computer than females.

    The data also showed head injuries increased until 2003, and then went on a decline. The authors guessed that the move to thinner LCD screens from the heavy, boxy cathode ray tube monitors had a safety benefit.

    "If a person comes into the ER and says 'I dropped a computer monitor on my foot,' they're not saying 'I dropped my LCD monitor on my foot' or 'I dropped my cathode ray tube computer monitor on my foot,'" McKenzie explained.

    Perhaps the most concerning revelation from the report was the ever-increasing number of children injured by computers. McKenzie said each year children made up a greater proportion of the already growing numbers of people heading to the emergency room with computer accidents.

    "Young children under 5 had the highest overall injury rate, and they had the greatest injury rate increase over any group," said McKenzie. "There are a lot of young children, really young children, using computers these days."liuxuepaper.com