Who Knew There Were So Many Interesting Ways to Die?
Let's talk about the weird ways people die! Tonight, the Times writes about how New Yorkers die. Apparently, the city uses over 6,000 codes to classify accidental deaths. We looked at the list and found some doozys.
These causes of death are all recognized by the 10th edition of the International Classification of Diseases manual. Doctors and health officials use the manual, created by the World Health Organization, to complete death certificates and compile cause-of-death statistics. Without further ado, here is a list of the strangest entries in the "accidents" section of the ICD.
Weird Ways to Accidentally Die
V35 Occupant of three-wheeled motor vehicle injured in collision with railway train or
railway vehicle
V71 Bus occupant injured in collision with pedal cycle
V82.4 Person injured while boarding or alighting from streetcar
V82.7 Occupant of streetcar injured in derailment without antecedent collision
V95.1 Ultralight, microlight or powered-glider accident injuring occupant
V95.4 Spacecraft accidents injuring occupant
V96.0 Balloon accident injuring occupant
V96.1 Hang-glider accident injuring occupant
V96.8 Other nonpowered-aircraft accidents injuring occupant (Kite carrying a person)
W04 Fall while being carried or supported by other persons
W26 Contact with knife, sword or dagger
W23 Caught, crushed, jammed or pinched in or between objects
W27 Contact with nonpowered hand tool (includes: axe; can-opener; chisel; fork; handsaw; hoe; ice-pick; needle; paper-cutter; pitchfork; rake; scissors; screwdriver; sewing-machine, nonpowered; shovel)
W41 Exposure to noise (includes: sound waves; supersonic waves)
W43 Exposure to vibration (Includes: infrasound waves)
W44 Foreign body entering into or through eye or natural orifice
W52 Crushed, pushed or stepped on by crowd or human stampede
W53 Bitten by rat
W56 Bitten or struck by marine animal
W64 Exposure to other and unspecified animate mechanical forces
V84.7 Person on outside of special agricultural vehicle injured in nontraffic accident
W88 Exposure to ionizing radiation (includes: radioactive isotopes; X-rays)
X05 Exposure to ignition or melting of nightwear
X21 Contact with venomous snakes and lizards (includes: Cobra; fer de lance; Gila monster; krait; rattlesnake; sea snake; snake (venomous); viper)
X24 Contact with centipedes and venomous millipedes (tropical)
X25 Contact with other venomous arthropods (includes: ant; caterpillar)
X33 Victim of lightning (excludes: fire caused by lightning; injury from fall of tree or other object caused by lightning)
Y36.5 War operations involving nuclear weapons (Includes: Blast effects; exposure to ionizing radiation from nuclear weapon; fireball effects; heat)
X37 Victim of cataclysmic storm (includes: blizzard; cloudburst; cyclone; tornado)
X51 Prolonged stay in weightless environment (includes: weightlessness in spacecraft (simulator))
U01.8 Terrorism, other specified (includes: lasers; battle wounds; piercing or stabbing object injuries; drowned in terrorist operations)
X58 Exposure to unspecified factors