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- A Helmet Today Keeps
- By:admin
- the hand drill away
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,...est=latestnews
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/off...oy.SEVENETWORK
I'd like to hear the nay-sayers take on whether or not the lack of a helmet had a bearing on the injury.
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That's what some people don't understand about head injuries. And what likely happened to Natasha Richardson. You feel OK right afterward. It's deceptive. It isn't the damage done during the actual impact on these "easy" falls. It's the brain hitting the skull and the inflammatory response reaction about 30 minutes to an hour later that becomes deadly/harmful. The pressure of the inflammation strangles the bloodflow to critical areas. It doesn't take a super-hard fall to get that response going. A helmet dampens the impact - it won't do anything for the rest of the body like keep you from getting a lung impaled on a handlebar, etc - but it's designed to keep people from dying from this "brain cage" inflammatory response in a "simple" fall.
That boy is amazingly lucky that the doc had enough guts to do the right thing to get the pressure under control. Other teams might have hemmed and hawed about using a "real" tool until it was too late.
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what happened in this case and in Richardsons case was bleeding inside the skull. Movement of the brain independent of that of the skull can tear blood vessels and axons. Blows can lead to this but blows are not required to lead to this. Just a sudden twisting movement can tear the vessels or axons. A helmet can soften the blow to a degree, but not much of a degree and a softened blow does not mean that the directions of movement will be changed. The frequent occasion of concussion and bleeding inside the skull to helmeted victims (in all manner of sport and safety incidences) is evidence of this damage.
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But more likely when helmetless, I would wager.
I slammed the pavement pretty good in February 08. If it had been after the Richardson thing I certainly would have gone to the hospital. As it was, I went to work. I did mention it to a few people and told them if I passed out or looked dazed, to get me to the hospital. No ill came of it though.
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But more likely when helmetless, I would wager.. hospital records indicate otherwise
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Wow. I admire that doctor. I know doctors are trained and educated, but I still think it takes confidence and cool head to make the decision that doctor made. Good on him for it.
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I'll just preach my usual sermon....
*More than likely if this kid was wearing a helmet, he might not have gotten hurt as bad from falling off his bike.
*More than likely the kid who lost his grip on the juggle jim and struck his head on a bar, might not have gotten hurt if he had a helmet.
*More than likely the kid crossing the street and struck by a car, which resulted in TBI, might have survived if he had a helmet.
*More than likely the kid (or grown up) that slipped and struck their head might not have suffered a TBI if they had a helmet.
*More than likely the kid (or grown up) "inside" a car involved in a accident, and suffered a TBI might have faired better with a helmet.
*More than likely the kid smacked upside the head by the neighborhood bully, might fair better with a helmet.
If we are to use this case like the one in the OP to justify wearing a helmet while riding a bicycle, we shouldn't stop with bicycles. There are dozens of activities we participate in everyday that pose the same risk (if not more) for head injury as cycling. Let's face it, getting out of bed and facing the world is a dangerous business.
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hospital records indicate otherwise Hospital records indicate that more people wearing helmets sustain brain injury than people without helmets?
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Yes, getting out of bed and facing the world is a dangerous business - but then that's no reason not to take reasonable precautions! I'm a klutz. I've fallen off my bike while standing still, and no, I don't have clipless pedals. I also have $50K in student loans that I'd REALLY hate to have to pay back after losing the use of my education through a head injury. So I wear a helmet when I ride my bike, because it does reduce some of the specific risks associated with cycling. Other risks, no, it doesn't. That's fine; there's no perfectly safe activity, place or thing in God's creation.
