“It appeared an easy project for any medical community to take on. Just or- der helmets from TMA, find a venue to distribute them, and you can prevent un- necessary injury to a child. The helmets Hard Hats provides are affordable, du- rable, and the kids consider them ‘cool’ — half the battle while enticing them to don one,” he said. Hard Hats for Little Heads has made an impact in Dr. Donahue’s community. “Rarely do I see a young child riding a bike without a helmet,” he said.
Research to intervention Sharon Huff, MD, says public health re- search and collaboration among stake- holders form the basis of injury preven- tion interventions. Dr. Huff is assistant professor of medicine in the Department of Occupational Health Sciences at The University of Texas Health Science Cen- ter at Tyler and coauthor of “All-Terrain Vehicle Injuries in Texas, Mapping the Path to Intervention With a Geographic Information System” published in the January 2012 Journal of Agromedicine.
Researchers found that a 35-county
area in East Texas had a statistically higher annual rate of injuries from all-terrain vehicle (ATV) accidents in children younger than 18 than the en- tire state (10 per 100,000 vs. 3.8 per 100,000). (See “ATV-Related Injuries in East Texas,” at left.) ATV-related injuries take a large fi- nancial toll in the East Texas area. From 2004 to 2010, hospital charges for ATV- related injuries totaled $31.3 million for the region.
The article says helmet use among
ATV-related injuries in East Texas
92%
of children younger than 16 on ATVs did not wear helmets
35%
of ATV-related injuries were in children younger than 18
67%
of head injuries in children younger than 16 were skull fractures, intracranial hemorrhage, or both
27%
of ATV-related injuries were in children younger than 16
50%
of ATV-related injuries were in children aged 14-17
East Texas children younger than 16 was only 8 percent and cites a National Future Farmers of America survey that notes the median age for first-time ATV riders is 9. Of the East Texas children injured, 2 percent (23 out of 821) died from their injuries, with children young- er than 16 accounting for 35 percent of deaths. None of the children who died wore a helmet. Dr. Huff says the findings are the foundation of evidence-based injury prevention efforts in East Texas. She’s a member of the ATeamV community coalition of state and local physicians, health care professionals, and health care facilities working to reduce ATV in- juries in counties with the highest rates of accidents.
“Our coalition is now in the early stages of developing our first interven- tion, which is a ‘train-the-trainer’ ap- proach to integrating ATV safety educa- tion into hunter safety courses,” Dr. Huff said. In the absence of a statewide helmet
Source: “All-Terrain Vehicle Injuries in Texas, Mapping the Path to intervention With a Geographic Information System,” Journal of Agromedicine, January 2012.
38 TEXAS MEDICINE October 2012
law, physicians can do a lot to help in- crease helmet use among their young patients, she says. “Physicians are important community members who can help families make safer choices. We are working to bring continuing medical education activities to targeted communities to help physi- cians do this effectively,” she said. She calls on East Texas physicians to ask patients about their ATV use. “Physicians also must give families simple messages about the appropriate ATV model, size, and choice for their children’s developmental age. Physicians must stress the importance of taking a
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