Ice Skating (activity, Apparel Or Equipment)
Twenty years of CPSC NEISS emergency-room records for this consumer product category, combined with demographic breakdowns, multi-year injury trends, and matching recall notices.
Sports Protective Equipment & Gear · CPSC Code 3255
Down 13% over 5 years
The verdict
Ice Skating (activity, Apparel Or Equipment) carry a danger score of 38/100 (low risk), driven by roughly 19,831 ER-treated injuries a year that are declining by about 13% over the last five years.
- 38/100
- danger score (low risk)
- 19,831
- ER visits per year (avg)
- 3.1%
- end in hospital admission
- 5-14
- most-injured age group
Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 3255 - last data year 2024.
PlainSafety danger score
How this 38/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for ice skating (activity, apparel or equipment) - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume19,831 ER visits/yr
- Severity (hospitalization rate)3.1%
- Fatality rate0.00%
- 5-year trend-13%
See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Ice Skating (activity, Apparel Or Equipment) (CPSC product code 3255, in the Sports Protective Equipment & Gear category) generate an estimated 19,831 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 396,616 ER-treated injuries across the 20-year span from 2005 to 2024. PlainSafety derives a danger score of 38/100 for this category (low risk), combining raw injury volume, demographic reach, severity of outcome, and multi-year trend. The five-year trajectory shows that injury counts are declining by about 13% over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2007 (23,375 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2020 (11,659 estimated visits).
The single most common ER diagnosis for ice skating (activity, apparel or equipment) is laceration to the face, accounting for approximately 42,911 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by internal injury to the head (39,280 cases). The 5-14 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 174,874 cases over the NEISS window, and females appear slightly more often than the opposite sex in that cohort. Severity outcomes from the NEISS disposition field show that 3.1% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer.
Beyond the hospital-sampled NEISS projections, this page also aggregates 0 consumer incident reports filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 20 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how ice skating (activity, apparel or equipment) fail in real households. Every figure on this page comes from CPSC-published data: NEISS projects national estimates from a probability sample of about 100 U.S. hospital emergency departments, while SaferProducts.gov collects voluntary reports from consumers, manufacturers, and clinicians. The danger score, trend indicators, and demographic breakdowns update automatically when CPSC releases a new yearly NEISS file, which is why this page is dated 2024-12-31. For regulatory context, consult CPSC recall notices and the SaferProducts.gov public database linked below.
Annual Injury Estimates (2005–2024)
Source: CPSC NEISS national estimates CPSC NEISS national estimates Injuries represent ER-treated cases only
Who Gets Injured?
| Age Group | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-4 | 2,611 | 2,262 | |
| 5-14 | 74,704 | 100,142 | |
| 15-24 | 39,667 | 50,928 | |
| 25-34 | 13,503 | 21,092 | |
| 35-44 | 13,981 | 23,577 | |
| 45-54 | 9,760 | 17,548 | |
| 55-64 | 4,770 | 12,233 | |
| 65-74 | 3,522 | 5,009 | |
| 75+ | 568 | 636 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Face | Laceration | |
| Head | Internal Injury | |
| Wrist | Fracture | |
| Head | Concussion | |
| Ankle | Strain, Sprain | |
| Wrist | Strain, Sprain | |
| Lower Leg | Fracture | |
| Lower Arm | Fracture | |
| Ankle | Fracture | |
| Finger | Laceration | |
| Knee | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Knee | Strain, Sprain | |
| Elbow | Fracture | |
| Elbow | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Lower Trunk | Contusions, Abr. |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
32YOF WALKED IN TO ED. PATIENT WAS ICE SKATING AND FELL BACKWARDS LANDING ON HAND. PATIENT RIGHT WRIST IS SWOLLEN. DX:CLOSED COLLES' FRACTURE OF RIGHT RADIUS.
71YOM WAS ICE SKATING WHEN HE HAD A FALL STRIKING HIS RIGHT ELBOW DX: RIGHT ELBOW INJURY
19YOF FELL WHILE ICESKATING, DX SPRAINED ANKLE, FOOT PAIN
63YOF WAS ICE SKATING AND FELL BACKWARDS HITTING THE BACK OF HER HEAD CAUSING A CONTUSION TO THE BACK OF HER HEAD DX: CONCUSSION
65 YOM FELL AND HIT HEAD WHILE ICE SKATING WITH +LOC, + HEMATOMA AND ABRASION TO FOREHEAD. DX: TRAUMATIC SUBARACHNOID HEMORRHAGE
28YOF,ICE SKATING AN FELL TWISTED ANKLE,DX:FX ANKLE
28YOF C/O CLOSED WRIST FRACTURE S/P PT WAS ICE SKATING AND FELL ON OUTSTRETCHED HAND AND NOW HAS PAIN. DX: CLOSED WRIST FRACTURE
11YOM WAS ICE SKATING AT THE RINK WHEN HE FELL DX: FRACTURED LEFT LOWER LEG
11YOM FELL WHILE ICE SKATING TWISTING RIGHT ANKLE DX: STRAINED ANKLE
9YOM WAS ICE SKATING AND FELL DX: FX OF RIGHT LOWER LEG
20YOM SLIPPED AND FELL INVERTING ANKLE ICE SKATING, DX: ANKLE PAIN, UNSPECIFIED
19YOM WAS ICE SKATING WHEN HE FELL DX: STRAINED LEFT ANKLE
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to ice skating (activity, apparel or equipment) on the CPSC website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are ice skating (activity, apparel or equipment)?
Based on 20 years of CPSC data, ice skating (activity, apparel or equipment) have a danger score of 38/100 (low risk). An estimated 19,831 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.
What are the most common injuries from ice skating (activity, apparel or equipment)?
The most common injury is laceration to the face, accounting for approximately 42,911 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from ice skating (activity, apparel or equipment) increasing or decreasing?
Down 13% over 5 years.
Who is most at risk for ice skating (activity, apparel or equipment) injuries?
The 5-14 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 174,874 cases recorded over 20 years. Females are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by ice skating (activity, apparel or equipment)?
Of all ER visits involving ice skating (activity, apparel or equipment), approximately 3.1% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (96.9%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with ice skating (activity, apparel or equipment)?
You can file a consumer incident report at SaferProducts.gov, the official CPSC reporting portal. Reports help the CPSC identify emerging hazards and trigger investigations or recalls. You can also call the CPSC hotline at 1-800-638-2772.
Related Products in Sports Protective Equipment & Gear
Safety Guides
What this means for you
Treat the 38/100 score as relative risk between products, not your personal odds of injury.
- See where this category ranks against every other tracked product. Full rankings
- Injuries cluster in the 5-14 age group, take extra care if that describes your household.
- Check for active recalls on this product before you assume it is safe. CPSC recalls
NEISS estimates ER-treated injuries from a national probability sample of hospitals; they do not capture injuries treated elsewhere or not treated at all.
Data: CPSC National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) 2005–2024 and SaferProducts.gov consumer incident reports. Injury estimates are based on a nationally representative probability sample of U.S. hospital emergency departments. This page is for informational purposes only and is not affiliated with the CPSC.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, scored, and verified.
