A Survey of Self-Reported Injuries Among Special Boat Operators

Abstract

Special Operations place great physical demands on personnel. In most Navy settings, greater physical demands are associated with greater musculoskeletal injury rates. Within the Special Operations community, Special Boat operators have a unique set of risks. Small boats operating in the open ocean are subject to large shock and vibration forces. Exposure to such forces can lead to discomfort, injury and performance degradation. In an effort to begin assessing the prevalence of injuries related to operations in small Special Operations craft, a self-report survey of injuries (SBUIS) was administered to 154 operator personnel drawn from Special Boat Units 12,20 and 22. Sample mean age was 32.0 ± 5.9 yr., mean years of military service was 12.0 ± 5.5, and mean time in Special Boats was 4.7 ± 3.0 yr. The SBUIS obtained demographic information, unit assignment and role information, past general pain levels, details about up to three specific injuries, and exercise history information. Specific injury information included type and location of injury, and type and duration of care for that injury. Of the respondents, 95 reported one injury event, 11 reported 2, and 5 reported 3. The 121 injury events resulted in 153 separate injuries.The most prevalent type of injury was sprains and strains (49.3%) followed by disc problems (7.9%) and trauma (7.9%). The most prevalent injury sites were the lower back (33.6%), knee rates for the Navy as a whole. Hospitalization incidence for the survey respondents was 2,687 per 100,000 person-years exposure. The overall Navy rate for the combination of injuries reported in this sample was 479 per 100,000 personyears. Only constructionmen (CN), seamen (SN), firemen (FN), and airmen (AN) had greater hospitalization rates than SBU respondents. We conclude that SBU personnel are at greater than average risk of injury associated with SBU training and operations. These findings need to be confirmed. If confirmed, methods to reduce the injury risk must be identified and implemented.

Single-Leg Balance Impairments Persist in Fully Operational Military Special Forces Operators With a Previous History of Low Back Pain

“…Epidemiological data from large military populations indicate that low back pain (LBP) is the most frequent diagnosis for individuals deployed during Operation Iraqi Freedom 5 as well as individuals who were not deployed. 19 Although SFOs suffer a wide distribution of joint injuries, 10 , 24 , 34 epidemiological evidence, including our own data, have demonstrated that the lumbar spine is 1 of the 3 most common locations for musculoskeletal injuries. 34 , 42 …”

Physiological consequences of military high-speed boat transits

“…With the increasing speed of RIBs there have been anecdotal reports of embarked personnel suffering from reductions in physical performance post-transit and chronic musculoskeletal injury. The existence of the latter is supported by US Navy and US Coastguard data for injury rates (Carvalhais 2004;Ensign et al 2000) and reports of back injuries in military operators (Smith 2007). The seating and ergonomics onboard open HSC are often poor (Dobbins 2004), with passengers having a restricted view of oncoming waves and the ability to anticipate impacts, especially at night.…”

An experimental investigation into whole body vibration generated during the hydroelastic slamming of a high speed craft

“…Physiological injuries have been reported by Ensign et al (2000) to include; spinal and abdominal injuries, damage to internal organs (kidneys), torn ligaments and, broken ankles and legs. Ensign et al (2000) also reported that the psychological injuries include; annoyance, fatigue, anxiety, loss of visual accuracy and reduced hand-eye coordination (the latter two could be considered a combination of both physiological and psychological effects). Myers et al (2011) demonstrated a three hour transit at 40 knot in HSC will reduce the physical performance of the crew (including run distance and vertical jump height).…”