March is National Brain Injury Prevention Month



By Mary Ward, Healthy Communities, Healthy People Coordinator,

Suwannee County Health Department



Currently, more than 210,000 people in Florida live with a brain injury related disability. In 2005, 93,000 brain injuries occurred in Florida, leading to more than 71,000 emergency department visits and nearly 18,000 hospitalizations. Males account for nearly 75 percent of brain injuries. Traffic-related crashes account for nearly 64 percent of brain injuries, followed by falls (nearly 20 percent of injuries). Children 0-5 years, young adults 15-24 years, and adults 65 years and older are at greatest risk for a brain injury due to falls.



DOH advises Floridians of tips to help prevent brain injuries:

� Always wear a seat belt and insist all passengers wear one as well.

� When biking, always wear a helmet.

� Always buckle children into an approved safety seat.

� Never shake a baby.

� Secure throw rugs in the home to prevent slips and falls.

Any brain injury can have long lasting, devastating results. Brain injury survivors and their families often require access to rehabilitation and life-long assistance to perform everyday activities. Long-term problems typically associated with a brain injury include memory loss and difficulty processing and retaining information, completing tasks, managing stress, controlling temper and dealing with depression.

In 2008 the Suwannee County Health Department partnered with the Live Oak Police Department to conduct several bicycle and helmet safety demonstrations for youth in our county. Over 150 bicycle helmets were donated to the Health Department last year by

the Suwannee River AHEC and Suwannee County Sheriff�s office. Officer David Shapiro of the LOPD and Mary Ward of the Health Department conducted the bike helmet safety demonstrations at summer camps in Live Oak. Children that participated in the demonstrations were properly fitted for and received free bike helmets.

The agencies are currently seeking funding that will allow them to purchase more helmets and continue this valuable program. A properly fitted bicycle helmet protects your child�s head when a fall occurs. Helmets are 85 percent effective in preventing traumatic brain injury

when worn properly. Florida law states that children ages 16 and under must wear a helmet when riding a bike.

Basic Bicycle Helmet tips include:

� Helmets made for the U.S. must meet the US Consumer Product Safety Commission standard, so look for a CPSC sticker. ASTM�s F1447 standard is identical. Snell�s B-95 standard is tougher but seldom used.

� You should expect to spend ten to fifteen minutes to get your helmet properly fitted.

� You want the helmet to be comfortably touching the head all the way around, level and stable enough to resist even violent shakes or hard blows and stay in place. It should fit low and level on the head with the strap comfortably snug.

� Helmets that fit with pads come with at least one set of foam fitting pads, and if you got a second set of thicker pads it can be used to customize the shape. There are also helmets on the market that use a fitting ring rather than side pads for adjustment. With these one-size-fits-all models you begin by adjusting the size of the ring.

� You want to adjust it to the �Eye-Ear-Mouth� test. When you look upward the front rim should be barely visible to your eye. The Y of the side straps should meet just below your ear. The chin strap should be snug against the chin so that when you open your mouth very wide you feel the helmet pull down a little bit.

� Children grow so check your child�s helmet often for proper fit and damage. Dents and cracks may prevent the helmet from doing its job the next time it is needed!

� If you are in a crash that damages the helmet, replace the helmet immediately. Cut the helmet into pieces and throw it away. This will prevent someone from using the helmet and thinking that it is safe.

� Children should always wear helmets while riding their bikes. But when a child gets off the bike, take off the helmet. There is a �hidden hazard� of strangulation if a child wears a helmet and it becomes snagged while playing on playground equipment.

� Helmets designed for other sports will NOT substitute as a bike helmet.

Many people choose not to wear helmets because they think they look �dorky� or they think the helmets are uncomfortable. Today�s helmets are very lightweight and are designed for maximum comfort. Bicycling is a sport just like football or baseball and proper safety equipment is required for injury prevention. It only takes one time to have a simple accident and change your life forever. One of the most important things a parent can do to make sure their child is safe, is to practice the safe behavior. Adults should always wear their helmets when they ride.

If someone you know receives a head injury no matter how insignificant it may seem quick medical attention is critical. The initial injury doesn�t have to be hard or even break the skin to cause severe brain damage. The brain can be bruised after an accident leaving patients with no symptoms or signs of a bleed at first glance. The victim may even be perfectly fine at first but the injury will worsen over time as swelling or bleeding in the brain takes place. The brain is like Jell-O. If you drop a bowl of Jell-O on the floor the least it will have is tiny cracks all over. When the Health Department does helmet safety demonstrations, we use either an egg or a Jell-O brain to give children a better understanding of what might happen to their brain if they sustain a head injury.

DOH promotes, protects and improves the health of all people in Florida. For more information about traumatic brain injury, visit the DOH website at www.doh.state.fl.us/Workforce/BrainSC/index.html or visit the Brain Injury Association of Florida at www.biaf.org.

Eligible Florida residents who sustain a moderate-to-severe brain injury can contact the DOH Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Program for more information about necessary services needed to return to their families and communities.



To schedule a bike helmet safety demonstration, please contact Mary Ward, Healthy Communities, Healthy People Coordinator at the Suwannee County Health Department at 386-362-2708 x 259 or email her at mary_ward@doh.state.fl.us.