40
CPSC NEISS Data 2005–2024

Outerwear

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.

Personal Care & Safety Products · CPSC Code 1646

Stable over 5 years

The verdict

Outerwear carry a danger score of 40/100 (moderate risk), driven by roughly 7,008 ER-treated injuries a year that are roughly flat over the last five years.

40/100
danger score (moderate risk)
7,008
ER visits per year (avg)
10.5%
end in hospital admission
75+
most-injured age group

Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 1646 - last data year 2024.

PlainSafety danger score

0/100100/10040/100
PlainSafety danger score

Source: CPSC NEISS danger-score model As of 2024

How this 40/100 score is built

The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for outerwear - no opinion, no editorializing:

  • Injury volume7,008 ER visits/yr
  • Severity (hospitalization rate)10.5%
  • Fatality rate0.01%
  • 5-year trend-4%

See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.

What the CPSC Data Shows

Outerwear (CPSC product code 1646, in the Personal Care & Safety Products category) generate an estimated 7,008 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 140,167 ER-treated injuries across the 20-year span from 2005 to 2024. PlainSafety derives a danger score of 40/100 for this category (moderate risk), combining raw injury volume, demographic reach, severity of outcome, and multi-year trend. The five-year trajectory shows that injury counts are roughly flat over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2018 (9,524 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2011 (5,123 estimated visits).

The single most common ER diagnosis for outerwear is internal injury to the head, accounting for approximately 8,731 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by dislocation to the elbow (7,036 cases). The 75+ age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 23,143 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 10.5% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer, and a small fraction (0.01%) result in fatality.

Beyond the hospital-sampled NEISS projections, this page also aggregates 53 consumer incident reports filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 20 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how outerwear 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.

7,008
Injuries / Year
10.5%
Hospitalization Rate
0.01%
Fatality Rate

Annual Injury Estimates (2005–2024)

4K5K6K7K8K9K10K 20052008201120142017202020232024 9K
Estimated annual emergency-room visits for Outerwear, CPSC NEISS

Source: CPSC NEISS national injury estimates As of 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 6,839 9,815 16,654
5-14 12,577 10,115 22,692
15-24 7,940 5,591 13,531
25-34 6,583 6,508 13,091
35-44 6,763 6,206 12,969
45-54 6,506 6,443 12,949
55-64 5,535 6,465 12,000
65-74 5,779 7,345 13,124
75+ 7,868 15,275 23,143

Most Common Injuries

Body Part Diagnosis Est. Injuries
Head Internal Injury 8,731
Elbow Dislocation 7,036
Shoulder Dislocation 6,764
Face Laceration 5,243
Eyeball Contusions, Abr. 4,960
Lower Trunk Fracture 4,313
Shoulder Strain, Sprain 4,173
Upper Trunk Other 3,174
Face Contusions, Abr. 2,965
Lower Trunk Other 2,741
Shoulder Other 2,670
Finger Fracture 2,649
Head Laceration 2,288
All Parts Body Other 1,992
Not Stated/unk Other 1,929

Severity Breakdown

Treated/examined And Released 87.4% (122,578)
Treated And Admitted/hospitalized 8.7% (12,148)
Treated And Transferred 2.4% (3,336)
Left Without Being Seen 0.9% (1,262)
Held For Observation 0.6% (844)
Fatality Incl. Doa, Died In Er 0.0% (18)

ER Visit Narratives

Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.

Age 9 · Female · Lower Arm · Radiation · 2024

9 YOF RASH TO ARMS AND CHEST WEARING A NEW JACKET DX; ALLERGIC RXN

Age 76 · Female · Wrist · Other · 2024

76YOF TRIPPED OVER HER COAT AND FELL ON OUTSTRETCHED HANDS AND KNEES WHILE IN DIALYSIS CLINIC, DX WRIST AND KNEE PAIN

Age 3 · Female · Face · Laceration · 2024

3YOF MOTHER AS TRYING TO PUT HER COAT ON AND SHE TRIPPED AND FELL HITTING HER HEAD AGAINST WINDOW SILL DX: FOREHEAD LACERATION

Age 33 · Female · Upper Trunk · Other · 2024

33YOF PATIENT WAS PUTTING ON HER JACKET WHEN SHE FELT A POP AND NOW HAS RIB PAIN DX: RIB PAIN ON LEFT SIDE, COSTOCHONDRITIS

Age 57 · Female · Shoulder · Other · 2024

57YOF WAS AT A RENTAL COMPANY WEARING A HEAVY WINTER COAT INDOORS AND HAD A SYNCOPAL EPISODE AND FELL TO THE FLOOR RESULTING IN LEFT SHOULDER PAIN DX: SYNCOPE

Age 93 · Female · Face · Laceration · 2024

93 YOF TRYING TO PUT ON HOUSE COAT, FELL ONTO KITCHEN COUNTERTOP DX FACIAL LACERATION

Age 76 · Female · Upper Leg · Fracture · 2024

76YOF C/O FRACTURE TO UPPER LEG S/P PT DROPPED HER COAT, BENT OVER TO PICK IT UP, LOST HER BALANCE AND FELL TO THE FLOOR. DX: CLOSED FRACURED TO RIGHT FEMUR

Age 26 · Male · Shoulder · Dislocation · 2024

26YOM, POPPED SHOULDER OUT OF SOCKET WHILE PUTTING THE JACKET ON, HISTORY OF RECURRENT DISLOCATIONS, DX: ANTERIOR DISLOCATION OFF RIGHT SHOULDER

Age 64 · Male · Hand · Burns, Thermal · 2024

64YOM ACCIDENTALLY CAUGHT HIS JACKET ON FIRE AT THE SOUP KITCHEN AND BURNED HIS RIGHT HAND TRYING TO PUT THE FLAMES OUT FIRE DEPARTMENT WAS NOT ON SCENE DX: THERMAL BURN TO HAND

Age 64 · Male · Shoulder · Dislocation · 2024

64YOM PRESENTS WITH SHOULDER PAIN AFTER ATTEMPTING TO PUT ON A WINTER COAT. DX: DISLOCATION OF SHOULDER

Age 34 · Male · Shoulder · Dislocation · 2024

34YOM PULLED SHOULDER OUT OF SOCKET WHILE PUTTING ON HIS JACKET, DX: ANTERIOR DISLOCATION OF RIGHT SHOULDER

Age 80 · Male · Head · Internal Injury · 2024

80YOM, BELTED DRIVER PULLING OUT OF STOP SIGN WHEN T-BONED ONTO OWN SIDE BY ANOTHER VEHICLE WITH AIRBAGS DEPLOYMENT, REPORTS GETTING HIT TO FACE BY SOMETHING AND HIS JACKET GOT CAUGHT AND WASN'T ABLE TO SELF-EXTRICATE, DENIES LOSS OF CONSCIOUS, DX: SUBDURAL HEMATOMA; MOTOR VEHICLE COLLISION; FACIAL LACERATION

Consumer Incident Reports

Reports filed by consumers on SaferProducts.gov.

9/27/2025 · No Incident, No Injury · BELLA & OMI CLOTHING, LLC · North Carolina

A children's clothing company I have bought from in the past just released a hoodie with neck drawstrings

9/26/2012 · Incident, No Injury · GUNTERSVILLE BREATHABLES INC · Pennsylvania

(7/15/2012) The consumer put on a rain suit to ride her motorcycle since the weather was damp. She had been on the bike for approximately 20 minutes or less, when she started to smell as if something were burning. When she arrived to her destination she saw that her right pant leg had melted to her jeans. When she went to take the suit off the material melted into the jeans causing her leg turn slightly red in color. The suit is a 100% Polypropylene and also advised to avoid flame or ignition sources. (7/16/2012) The manufacturer was contacted and a Rep. took her complaint. They advised her that they were aware of the issue and offered to send her heat resistant patches to prevent the problem, which she declined. The BBB was also contacted and complaint was filed with them, case# [REDACTED]. The Rep. [REDACTED] advised her that they would look into the matter and keep in touch with her. (7/18/2012) The consumer took the suit back to the retailer and informed them what damages the suit caused. To also warn other customers that they should buy the patches with the suit or they may potentially burn themselves.

8/18/2011 · Incident, No Injury · THIRD WORLD TIENDA · South Carolina

We purchased a sweater jacket for my 2.5 year old daughter. I noticed today when I washed the jacket, there are drawstrings with large 1" balls on the ends around the neck and there is also a drawstring in the waist of the jacket. The jacket is imported from Ecaudor and is made by Third World Tienda. The label has a website of www.thirdworldtienda.com

8/16/2022 · Incident, No Injury · Columbia Sportswear Company · North Carolina

The consumer indicates that her husband was sitting next to a fireplace for approximately fifteen minutes. When he got up, a friend informed him that his jacket had melted in the back and the back of the arms. The consumer’s husband removed the jacket and noticed that the jacket did not damage his clothing underneath. The consumer contacted the Manufacturer and explained the situation; a representative advised her to send the product back for inspection. Upon inspection, the consumer was informed that the garment was not defective and that the damage was due to her husband sitting too close to the fireplace. The consumer was sent the jacket back. Manufacturer responded "Garment is not defective due to workmanship or materials (WM5020) consumer damage" The consumer believes that if her husband had been too close to the fireplace enough to burn his jacket, he would have felt the heat but this was not the case. The consumer states that the jacket was used approximately three times per week every Winter.

8/16/2013 · Injury, First Aid Received by Non-Medical Professional · Columbia Sportswear Company · Oregon

I got the circuit breaker jacket and got burned by it.

7/30/2017 · Injury, Emergency Department Treatment Received · Ann Inc.com · Unspecified

I ordered a jacket through ANN TAYLOR online, and I received on 27 April 2017 evening. Tried the jacket and felt immidieate itchness. I took off the jacket and washed itching area with mile soap (IVORY) Throughout the night itching got worse and I started having chemical reaction. On 28 April 2017, I had to go [REDACTED] Care Center. I reported Ann taylor customer service too. Medical facility perscribed me [antihistamine] 50mg every six hours for five days. Call Ann taylor, but their customer service was not proactive. + They wanted to have their jacket back. The jacket is manufactured in China and i strongly believe they used harmful chemical for final garment wash. (I only had reaction on my left arm, so i believe it the chemical was not completed washed off from left sleeve) I still have the jacket, and i am willing to profice the jacket if needed for investigation.

7/16/2014 · Injury, First Aid Received by Non-Medical Professional · Gap Inc. · Maine

I put a brand new Baby Gap (Product - 50 spf Color block Raglan [REDACTED], long sleeve) long sleeve, 50 spf [REDACTED] to take him to the beach. I applied sunblock before putting the shirt on. I was at the beach from 10:30 to noon. When I took the shirt off his entire back and front of his chest were badly sun burned. They are falsely selling a product as safe to mothers for their infants and toddlers and telling them it will protect their children from the sun and it clearly did not do that. I have used different brands of [REDACTED] shirts before and I have never had this problem so either their product is defective or there was really no SPF in it to begin with, either way it is unacceptable. I tried to protect my child from the sun by buying a product from GAP that I though I could trust and instead my child ended up suffering for it. He has never had a burn before and I never expected him to have one on my watch at the age of 3. I do not want this to happen to any other child or parent.

6/26/2015 · Injury, Seen by Medical Professional · Lululemon Athletica · Louisiana

We traveled from Los Angeles to New Orleans in Thanksgiving of 20132 to celebrate the holiday with relatives. After deplaning and getting our luggage, we were met curbside by our parents. I was holding my 2 year old daughter in my arms as he and my father in law loaded the luggage into the minivan. My husband then took my daughter out of my arms to put her into the car seat. When he did so, he also by accident, grabbed a hold of the elastic string on my lululemon jacket. He walked about 6 feet away and as he put her in, the string popped back and the metal tip punctured the skin under my eye. It immediately started bleeding and the paramedics who worked at the New Orleans airport were summoned and treated me with ice and bandages. They said had the puncture happened further up, I would have been blinded in that eye. I got a very bad black eye that lasted a month. And, as you can imagine, that made for a really bad and uncomfortable holiday weekend.

Showing 8 of 53 reports.

Product Recalls

Search for active and past recalls related to outerwear on the CPSC website.

Frequently Asked Questions

How dangerous are outerwear?

Based on 20 years of CPSC data, outerwear have a danger score of 40/100 (moderate risk). An estimated 7,008 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.

What are the most common injuries from outerwear?

The most common injury is internal injury to the head, accounting for approximately 8,731 injuries over 20 years.

Are injuries from outerwear increasing or decreasing?

Stable over 5 years.

Who is most at risk for outerwear injuries?

The 75+ age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 23,143 cases recorded over 20 years. Females are more frequently injured in this age group.

What happens when someone is injured by outerwear?

Of all ER visits involving outerwear, approximately 10.5% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (89.5%) are treated and released from the emergency department.

How can I report a safety problem with outerwear?

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.

Safety Guides

What this means for you

Treat the 40/100 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 75+ 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.