Livestock trauma in central Texas: cowboys, ranchers, and dudes

Emergency nurses routinely treat a wide variety of animal-related injuries, yet the trauma literature rarely addresses injuries associated with livestock.

The purpose of this retrospective, descriptive study was to examine the incidence, demographics, severity, and other factors associated with trauma related to livestock in persons admitted to one central texas trauma center during a 5-year period. Patients were classified by activity at the time of injury. The following 5 categories were identified: cowboy, rancher, dude, standing near, and unidentified. Groups were further analyzed by the type of animal involved in the injury, mechanism of injury, patient sex and age, body regions injured, indicators of severity, and county in which the injury occurred.

One hundred thirty-six patients met the inclusion criteria. Of these patients, 24% were categorized as cowboys, 18% as ranchers, and 39% as dudes. Six percent were standing near the animal, and activity at the time of injury could not be adequately determined for 13% of patients. Typical demographics, mechanisms of injury, wounds, indicators of severity, and animals were found to be associated with each activity class.

Horses were responsible for 75% of the traumas sustained by ranchers and 83% of the traumas sustained by dudes. Bulls were responsible for 94% of the cases involving cowboys. Simply standing near livestock was dangerous for 6% of the sample, including young children. Although helmets and steel-toed boots are currently unpopular, wearing them is a simple and important safety strategy.