Contrary to the typical media response, all shark attacks are not equal, and University of Florida researchers have created a scale that ranks shark-related injuries.
Media coverage of shark attacks often leans toward the sensational, no matter how serious the victim's injuries are.
In July 2005, for example, a shark bit a 19-year-old Austrian man off Boca Grande; the following April, a shark bit an 11-year-old Michigan boy off Marco Island.
The incidents received the same coverage - front-page stories in local newspapers - even though the Austrian man suffered severe lacerations that required surgery to repair tendons and vessels on his foot and ankle, while the Michigan boy was merely nipped on the hand.
"No doubt, every shark attack will be a story," said George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File in Gainesville. "A shark attack is a grabber: It grabs people's attention. But every shark attack elicits the same reaction whether it's a nick or a very serious injury."
To help the media and public understand the severity of shark attacks, and to help emergency room personnel with treatment, university researchers have developed the Shark-Induced Trauma Scale, which rates shark-related injuries from 1 to 5. The scale will be published in this month's issue of The American Surgeon.
Burgess came up with the idea for the grading system a couple of years ago and ultimately turned it over to the university's College of Medicine.
"I wanted to produce a kind of Richter Scale of shark attacks, a numerical value that has meaning to the public and the media," Burgess said. "The scale would differentiate between hit-and-run attacks and more serious incidents, so your editor can say, 'Oh, this is not a front-page story. It goes in the B section.' It's a matter of adding perspective."
University researchers reviewed 96 unprovoked shark attack cases from the shark attack file, giving scores to various clinical observations, including location and depth of injury, blood pressure values, damage to organs, loss of function to limbs, and whether the attack was fatal.
From those scores, they created the five-level SIT Scale.
Level 1 is simple lacerations with no effect on blood pressure; Level 5 is "most likely a fatal injury."
Knowing a shark attack victim's injury level can help emergency room physicians prepare for treatment, said lead researcher Ashley Lentz, a plastic and reconstructive surgery fellow at the College of Medicine.
The shark trauma scale is modeled on the Mangled Extremity Severity Score, which is used to help physicians determine whether an injured extremity should be amputated.
"This is the same thing," Lentz said. "You hear you have a kid coming in after a shark attack, and everybody thinks the worst. But if the kid is a Level 1, OK, you don't have to call the blood bank. You know it's a superficial injury."
Like the media, the public tends to put all shark attacks into one big, bloody bag, when, in fact, most shark-related injuries are minor.
Of the 96 cases used to develop the scale, 58.4 percent were Level 1 or 2; 8.3 percent were Level 5.
Since 1882, 610 unprovoked shark attacks have been recorded in Florida; 13, or 2.1 percent, have been fatal.
If the medical community and the media adopt the Shark-Induced Trauma Scale, the public might become less fearful of sharks and their habitat.
"People hear 'shark attack,' and they freak out," Lentz said. "They won't go swimming. But if they hear it's a Level 1 injury, they say, 'Oh, that's a simple cut.'"
For the record, the Michigan 11-year-old's injury would be Level 1 under the SIT Scale, and the Austrian's would be Level 2.
Lee County's most recent shark attack occurred April 3, when a Colorado tourist received Level 1 wounds.