11 Safety programs for schools, children, villages, and transportation are conducted to prevent injury. Additionally, effort is required to reduce the number of accidents and injuries as well as preventable deaths so that Jeju remains a safe haven for prospective tourists. Jeju should be considered not only a safe destination for travelers but also a truly safe community for both residents and visitors. Injury is a preventable RG7204 research buy cause of disease. Several primary preventive measures should be observed for visitors to Jeju. First, most visitors come to the island by plane or ship. Videos and pamphlets introducing transportation and outdoor activity safety procedures

could be distributed to visitors before arriving on Jeju, as proposed by Ho and colleagues.10 Second, almost all teenagers have a school trip

once they are middle-school or high-school students, and they often choose Jeju as their travel site. Students could have safety and injury prevention education before they leave. Third, injury prevention education could be given to tour guides and tour bus drivers. Many tourists from Asian countries and middle-aged Korean visitors enjoy group tours. Tour guides and drivers stay close to the visitors while traveling around Jeju. Furthermore, a law on the use of protective gear for motorcyclists and bicyclists is needed. Finally, the safety consciousness of the Jeju residents is important. BAY 80-6946 The primary limitation of this study is that data were only collected from a single institution. Although many patients might have been admitted to small local hospitals or clinics, Jeju National University Hospital is the only trauma center in Jeju and patients treated there may have more severe injuries. Furthermore, our study was retrospective in nature, which introduced these many potential biases typical of this type of study. However, clinical data were prospective and collected

using specifically designed and robust injury surveillance systems. This is the first study to investigate injuries among visitors to the Jeju Island of Korea. Although less overall injury-related mortality was reported among visitors, more transportation injuries, stinging, slipping, and invenomating injuries occurred and more injuries were noted among visitors to the countryside. Safety information should be provided to visitors when they arrive at Jeju and injury prevention information should be given to school trip students, tour guides, and tour bus drivers. Moreover, protective equipment for motorcycles and bicycles should be mandatory. The long-term aim of this study is to utilize our findings to guide the creation of a targeted visitor injury prevention program. This research was supported by a research grant from the Jeju National University Hospital in 2009. The authors state that they have no conflicts of interest to declare. “
“Background.