Water Polo (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 3276
Down 38% over 5 years
The verdict
Water Polo (activity, Apparel Or Equipment) carry a danger score of 28/100 (low risk), driven by roughly 817 ER-treated injuries a year that are declining by about 38% over the last five years.
- 28/100
- danger score (low risk)
- 817
- ER visits per year (avg)
- 2.4%
- end in hospital admission
- 15-24
- most-injured age group
Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 3276 - last data year 2024.
PlainSafety danger score
How this 28/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for water polo (activity, apparel or equipment) - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume817 ER visits/yr
- Severity (hospitalization rate)2.4%
- Fatality rate0.00%
- 5-year trend-38%
See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Water Polo (activity, Apparel Or Equipment) (CPSC product code 3276, in the Sports Protective Equipment & Gear category) generate an estimated 817 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 16,332 ER-treated injuries across the 20-year span from 2005 to 2024. PlainSafety derives a danger score of 28/100 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 38% over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2006 (1,318 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2020 (187 estimated visits).
The single most common ER diagnosis for water polo (activity, apparel or equipment) is laceration to the face, accounting for approximately 2,037 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by internal injury to the head (1,431 cases). The 15-24 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 11,237 cases over the NEISS window, and males appear slightly more often than the opposite sex in that cohort. Severity outcomes from the NEISS disposition field show that 2.4% 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 water polo (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 | 37 | 88 | |
| 5-14 | 1,783 | 1,664 | |
| 15-24 | 7,109 | 4,128 | |
| 25-34 | 726 | 76 | |
| 35-44 | 133 | 233 | |
| 45-54 | 127 | 142 | |
| 55-64 | 56 | 0 | |
| 65-74 | 16 | 0 | |
| 75+ | 0 | 15 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Face | Laceration | |
| Head | Internal Injury | |
| Head | Concussion | |
| Finger | Fracture | |
| Mouth | Laceration | |
| Face | Fracture | |
| Eyeball | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Head | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Shoulder | Dislocation | |
| Shoulder | Strain, Sprain | |
| Lower Trunk | Strain, Sprain | |
| Finger | Strain, Sprain | |
| Finger | Dislocation | |
| Eyeball | Other | |
| Face | Contusions, Abr. |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
24 YOF WAS PLAYING WATER POLO WHEN SHE WAS STRUCK IN THE FACE WITH SOMEONE'S ARM. DX: FRACTURE OF MEDIAL ORBITAL WALL RIGHT SIDE.
14YOF TO ED WITH FINGER INJ, PT ACCIDENTALLY HIT FINGER AND GOT THROUGH A TINY HOLE IN WATER POLO HELMET DURING GAME OF WATER POLO, DX LAC TO FINGER
30YOM COLLIDED WITH ANOTHER PLAYER WHILE PLAYING WATER POLO, INJ TOE, DX FX TOE
16YOM,PLAYING COMPETITIVE WATER POLO GAME YESTERDAY,WAS HIT IN HEAD,BY ANOTHER PLAYER KNEE,DX:CONCUSSION
16 YOM. LT HAND LAC WHILE PT WAS PRACTICING IN WATER POLO & HE STRUCK HIS LT HAND UP TO BLOCK A BALL WAS STRUCK BY ANOTHER PLAYER. DX: COMPLICATED LAC OF LT HAND
21YOF, WAS PLAYING IN A WATER POLO GAME WHEN SHE HAD A HEAD ON COLLISION WITH ANOTHER PLAYER UNDER WATER, IMMEDIATELY FELT PAIN TO RIGHT TOE, DX: NAIL AVULSION OF TOE
16YOM WAS HIT IN THE HEAD BY SOMEONE'S HAND DURING WATER POLO PRACTICE IN THE POOL DX: FACIAL CONTUSION
16YOM WAS KICKED IN THE HEAD DURING A WATER POLO GAME DX: CONCUSSION
20YOM WAS PLAYING WATER POLO AND WAS HIT IN THE EYE. DX: CHI
16YOF HAS HEADACHE AFTER BEING STRUCK BY A BALL TO RIGHT SIDE OF HEAD WITH WATER POLO BALL AT PRACTICE. DX: CONCUSSION
16YOM HAS WRIST PAIN AFTER PT INJURED IT DURING WATER POLO. DX: RIGHT WRIST INJURY; CONTUSION OF RIGHT HAND
15YOM WAS PLAYING WATER POLO WHEN HE GOT HIT IN EYE. NOW HAS REDNESS. DX: LEFT CORNEAL ABRASION
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to water polo (activity, apparel or equipment) on the CPSC website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are water polo (activity, apparel or equipment)?
Based on 20 years of CPSC data, water polo (activity, apparel or equipment) have a danger score of 28/100 (low risk). An estimated 817 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.
What are the most common injuries from water polo (activity, apparel or equipment)?
The most common injury is laceration to the face, accounting for approximately 2,037 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from water polo (activity, apparel or equipment) increasing or decreasing?
Down 38% over 5 years.
Who is most at risk for water polo (activity, apparel or equipment) injuries?
The 15-24 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 11,237 cases recorded over 20 years. Males are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by water polo (activity, apparel or equipment)?
Of all ER visits involving water polo (activity, apparel or equipment), approximately 2.4% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (97.6%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with water polo (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 28/100 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 15-24 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.
