Fewer injuries at Crankworx Rotorua mountain bike event

There were fewer injuries at Crankworx 2018 than in previous years say organisers. PHOTO/FILE FRASER BRITTON

Crankworx event organisers and medical professionals are "pleasantly surprised" by how few injuries there were at this year's event but the hospital emergency department says it was inundated.

Peak Safety was contracted as the event's medic. The company specialises in safety and emergency management in the outdoors and runs the first response unit in Whakarewarewa Forest on a daily basis.

The company has been the event medic for as long as Crankworx has been in Rotorua and dealt with fewer injuries this year than in the past, said the director Mark "Budgie" Woods.

"We've had some busy days in the years gone by but there's been an improvement in the overall safety ... we were pleasantly under-worked," Woods said.

Wood said the event medics saw broken wrists and collarbones and concussions, but nothing that would be unusual at that level of racing.

"There was some luck, but we've got good quality management systems," he said.

"Over the years it's been fine-tuned."

Woods said one person received a lot of attention when he was knocked out on the pump track but he recovered quickly.

But Lakes District Health Board assistant communications officer Shan Tapsell said Crankworx had a "fairly sizeable impact" on the emergency department. Two patients were admitted while all the rest were discharged," Tapsell said.

"Some patients were required to have an extended period in ED for observation. The increase in visitors coming to Rotorua for Crankworx also resulted in some minor presentations to ED."

Crankworx Rotorua director Tak Mutu said he was happy with how few injuries there had been.

"I don't have the exact numbers but what I do know is we had fewer injuries than the national champs, " Mutu said.

"It's mountain biking, it's an extreme sport and injuries are going to happen. We've got people pushing the limits but it was nothing out of the ordinary."

Mutu said overall there weren't any major injuries.

"I know it was reported there was one guy in hospital with serious injuries ... he did go to hospital but was discharged the next day."