Officials promote helmet use for skiers, snowboarders
SALT LAKE CITY — Utahns who watched the Winter Olympics for the past three weeks saw ski and snowboard athletes wearing helmets, and local officials want to encourage head protection by offering free helmets and ski passes on Saturday.
Brighton Ski Resort has teamed with officials at Intermountain Medical Center, Life Flight and the Brain Injury Association of Utah for a public service campaign called “Save your brain, wear a helmet.” Those who purchase a ski pass at Brighton on Saturday will get a ticket for a helmet raffle to be conducted throughout the day. Those who show up wearing a helmet at the ticket booth will receive a two-for-one night skiing pass to Brighton, which is good any night the rest of the season.
The resort also will sell helmets that day at a discounted rate.
Bill Duehlmeier, a nurse practitioner with the trauma program at Intermountain, said about 49 percent of skiers and snowboarders nationwide wear helmets while on the slopes, yet “approximately 30 to 60 percent of traumatic brain injuries can be avoided by wearing a helmet.” Such injuries are the leading cause of death and serious injury among skiers and snowboarders.
Medical personnel see “more mild traumatic brain injury with snowboarders,” and about 25 percent of snowboarder injuries involve the head. About 20 percent of injuries for skiers involve the head, he said.
“Most of the injuries we see are concussions, but we also stress that concussions can affect your entire life,” Duehlmeier said. “Even a small one can cause issues with your job and personal life with lost concentration and memory. They’ve also been found to affect people’s ability to manage stress and concentrate.”
While nothing can prevent every possible injury, “we do know that major head injuries or life-threatening injuries rarely occur when people are wearing a helmet.”
Traumatic brain injury can lead to serious or lifelong disability, including paralysis and serious concussions that can take months or years for recovery.
Susan Connors, president of the Brain Injury Association of Utah, emphasized in a news release that “a concussion is a brain injury. … Medical evaluation by a licensed health care provider before returning to play is essential to the athlete’s short-term and long-term health.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that U.S. emergency departments treat an estimated 135,000 sports- and recreation-related traumatic brain injuries, including concussions, each year among children ages 5 to 18.
For more information, contact the association at 801-484-2240, or visit their Web site at www.biau.org.
By Carrie A. Moore
Deseret News
SOURCE: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700013772/Officials-promote-helmet-use-for-skiers-snowboarders.html
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