JACKSON HOLE WOMAN, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, October 19, 2011 - 5
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Use your
Helmet use drastically reduces head-injury risk. By Tram Whitehurst
F
or veteran adventurer, photographer and alpinist Jimmy Chin, a timely helmet purchase probably helped save his life. On March 31, he bought a helmet. On April 1, he was caught in an avalanche that carried him 2,000 feet down Shadow Peak in Grand Teton National Park. “It’s the first time I ever skied with a helmet on,” Chin said days after the avalanche. “There are definitely some dents in the helmet — not crushed. It definitely helped to have it, to some degree.” Chin’s dramatic story reinforces what a number of studies have shown: Helmet use reduces the risk of head injury and death in activities with the potential for head impact. Traumatic brain injury is a serious public health problem. Caused by blows or jolts to the head, the injuries can range in severity from mild concussions to extended periods of unconsciousness. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates about 1.7 million people sustain traumatic brain injuries each year. And while only a portion of those injuries are sports related, researchers and doctors say helmet use can lower the risk
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By the numbers: Helmets and head injury 1.7 million: Number of traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) each year 52,000: Number of TBI deaths each year 75: Percent of TBIs that are concussions Unknown: Number of people who don’t receive medical care for a TBI 85: Percent reduction in head injury risk for bicyclists who wear helmets 91: Percent of bicyclists killed who weren’t wearing a helmet 13: Percent of bicyclists killed who were women 44: Percent of head injuries to skiers and snowboarders that could be prevented by helmet use 43: Percent of all skiers and snowboarders who wear helmets — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
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associated with those activities. For example, helmet use has been estimated to reduce head injury risk by 85 percent for bicyclists, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Of all bicyclists killed in 2009, 91 percent were not wearing a helmet. Of those killed, only 13 percent were women. During the winter months, skiers and snowboarders could reduce their risk of head injury by 44 percent by simply wearing a helmet, according to a study by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. “We see people frequently in the ER with sports-related head injuries,” said Dr. AJ Wheeler, an emergency room doctor at St. John’s Medical Center. “The people wearing helmets have less severe injuries and quicker recoveries. You can still get injured wearing a helmet, but it definitely improves your chances.” Wheeler said protecting against even mild concussions is important, because such injuries can cause brain damage and can have cumulative effects over a lifetime. He encourages people of all ages to wear a helmet. “I see parents all the time putting helmets on kids but not on themselves,” Wheeler said. “Helmets are not just for kids.”