DIFW

During the 1995-96 winter season (i.e., November 1995 through April 1996), both the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (DIFW) and the Maine Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) detected an increase in deaths associated with snowmobile use in Maine.

Maine state law requires snowmobile operators (residents and nonresidents) to report all incidents involving snowmobiles that result in injury requiring medical attention or in property damage of [is greater than or equal to] $300.(*) DIFW wardens or other law-enforcement officers investigate all reported incidents and collect data about the time of occurrence, weather conditions, terrain, alcohol use, helmet use, and cause and circumstances.

Second, because DIFW surveillance statistics had been summarized annually, the OCME data and death-certificate data were compared with all snowmobile-associated incidents reported to DIFW rather than to nonfatal incidents only.