Animal injury claims decline
Horses continue to cause expensive injuries to Kiwis, but insects are creating plenty of claims as well, writes Jo Lines-MacKenzie.
Fewer Kiwis are being injured by animals – at least, animals that aren’t human. Even so, ACC’s still paying a hefty amount on such claims –
$25,590,697 was paid out in 2016/17. But that’s $1,842,942 less than the
2015/16 year.
Individual claims declined over that time by 5205.
The biggest risk people face is from one of the biggest domestic animals they’ll encounter – horses – though cattle are pretty dangerous, too. Some 3517 horseinjury claims added up to
$6,867,869.
And while claims caused by horses proved the most expensive, insects produced the most claims with 25,845.
That’s 213 times more than deer injuries, which caused 121 claims.
Pesky insects cost the taxpayer more than $3 million in ACC claims.
Those who seek compensation for animal injuries are largely female – 30,981 active claims. Males had 24,058 active claims.
The most likely to be injured were younger than four. The least likely injured were aged 80 to 84.
The most expensive injury was described as a soft tissue injury – contusion, internal organ and strains. Those payouts amounted to $7,697,848.
The most common injuries were classed as infected/ noninfected lacerations, puncture wounds or stings – 33,468 people sought medical attention for such an injury.
In total, Waikato residents received $3,178,323 in ACC claims for injuries caused by non-human animals.
Of those, 616 claims were made on injuries caused by horses, amounting to more than $1 million. Some 2541 received ACC compensation for an insect injury.
Waikato Hospital’s regional trauma director Dr Grant Christie said that in the Midland region, approximately 140 people each year are admitted to hospital with equine-related injuries, around 66 each year are admitted to Waikato Hospital alone.
Approximately 70 per cent of equine injuries involve girls or women, most often aged 10 to 20, though there was a notable rise among females in their 40s and 50s.
‘‘Falls from horses are a particular problem – 71 per cent of hospital admitted equine injuries were due to falls, many of whom are also kicked following their fall.’’
Christie reports that a vast majority – 85 per cent – is nonwork related and occur especially during the summer months of December and January. Not surprisingly, they also occur particularly at weekends.
‘‘Legs, arms and pelvis are the body regions most often injured. Around 50 per cent of all injured patients had injuries in these body regions, but across the Midland region there were also approximately 100 individual spinal injuries and 86 head injuries just from falls from horses,’’ Christie said.
Half of these required surgery. The average length of stay for these patients is three-and-a-half days, and in Waikato Hospital these patients had an average cost of almost $7000. One patient cost $101,400.
From 2012 to 2016, equine injury admissions to Waikato Hospital cost $2.33m, an average of $466,750 per year, and this does not include outpatient appointments or other costs such as rehabilitation or GP visits.
General livestock are also dangerous. Across the Waikato, around 42 people a year are admitted to hospital with injuries caused by farm animals. That’s someone every eight to nine days.
Around 75 per cent of these livestock injuries involve cattle, 14 per cent are sheep-related, and the remainder are from pigs, goats and deer.
‘‘A majority of these injuries were crush injuries, or by being hit directly by the animal, especially for cattle-related injuries,’’ Christie said. ‘‘Most cattle-related injuries occur over spring and summer, most noticeably during calving season, and often when moving stock near gates and fences.
‘‘During sheep-shearing time, sheep frequently cause cutting type injuries as the sheep buck or bolt.’’
The majority of these injuries are to arms and legs. From 2012 to 2015, around 100 patients were admitted to Waikato Hospital with livestock animal injuries, at a cost to the hospital of around $478,000.
Waikato Hospital treats approximately 55 dog bites a year. Many of these occur when the person is attempting to break up dog fights.
These cost the hospital about $268,000 for the 2016/17 financial year.