Make sure to wear your helmet!
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=699467
Fast, fun and dangerous
With the average speed of a sled reaching 19 mph, some health officials push for wearing helmets
By ERIN RICHARDS
erichards@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Dec. 21, 2007
Although she can't remember, Emily Ziebell was probably having fun four years ago while night sledding in Waukesha.
It was close to midnight at Lowell Park, which has one of the best sledding hills in the county, and Ziebell, who had just turned 20, jumped on a snow tube with a friend. The friend fell off while they were zooming down the hill, but Ziebell continued and slammed into a tree trunk, splitting open her skull and crushing her left arm.
Ziebell, now 24, still has speech and coordination issues but has recovered remarkably, said her mother, Mary.
Snow, gravity and speed have long been an exhilarating wintertime combination, but it's also one that produces a small but inevitable number of injuries. Area trauma centers are reporting the usual snowboarding wrist fractures, sledding concussions and ankle injuries, but Children's Hospital of Wisconsin already has admitted three children since Nov. 1 for sledding injuries. That's more in-patient sledding accident victims than in the five-month season last year.
How much to push?
Those figures, coupled with a new study that reports sleds reach average speeds of 19 miles per hour, have some health officials wondering how far to push the helmet issue.
"The challenge that we face is that it's not the norm - nor is it likely to ever be the norm - for kids to wear helmets while sledding," said Bridget Clementi, injury and prevention manager at Children's Hospital and Health System. Clementi said the Injury Free Coalition for Kids recently compared the average speed of a sled at 19 mph with the average speed of a kid on a bike, which is 10 to 15 mph.
Many parents have made it a habit to make kids wear helmets on their bikes, Clementi said.
"We don't want to kill the fun, but we are starting to look at reaching out to parents on sledding safety," Clementi said.
Clementi said parents should be aware of where their children are sledding and be around to supervise if necessary. She said children should slide feet first and parents who ride with small children probably should practice bailing out so the child knows what to do in case of an emergency.
Sledding helmets for sale
Health industry professionals aren't the only ones who have become more attuned to the helmet issue. For the first time this year, Blain's Farm & Fleet stocked sledding helmets beside its sleds.
Blain's supply spokeswoman Renee Tarnutzer couldn't say whether the helmets, which cost about $18 and cover the ears, were selling well, but Thursday at the Farm and Fleet in Waukesha, every sled, toboggan, disc and snow tube was sold out.
Helmets were plentiful.
"I push (helmets) with bicycling; it's an automatic. But we haven't gotten to the point of wearing them while sledding," parent Amy James said Friday at Lowell Park. Around her, children on all sorts of plastic sleds reached the bottom of the hill, hooting and laughing.
James added her family's safe sledding regimen includes choosing hills that are less steep and that have no fixed obstacles in the way.
"I think it's part of how you were raised. I didn't wear a helmet sledding growing up," James said. "But then again, I didn't wear a seat belt either. Who knows? Maybe in a couple years we'll all wear helmets out here."
At the request of Children's Hospital, Waukesha police Officer Jake Trussoni used his radar gun on Lowell Park's sledders Friday. The slowest speed on the wet and sticky snow was 10 mph, the fastest speed, recorded by adult/child teams on sleds and a pair of adolescent snowboarders, was 17 mph.
Sporting a pair of camouflaged snow pants and a new snowboard, Jordan Schimel,12, also wore a black, vented helmet while coming down the hill.
"I don't wear a helmet while riding a bike," Jordan said. "But this is my third time snowboarding, and when I tried it for the first time in Colorado this year, I broke my wrist. I haven't been out in a few days so I thought I'd wear it."
Schimel's friend 12-year-old Chaz Perry said he had a helmet but forgot to bring it with him Friday. It's not that helmets are uncool or anything, Chaz said, but he added he wouldn't want to wear one while sledding.
Mary Ziebell said her family advocates using bike helmets but isn't sure about sledding helmets.
"Could (a helmet) have helped Emily? Maybe," she said. "But it doesn't provide help for everything, and her brain still would have been knocked around. I think it's more important to be extraordinarily careful about where you sled."
How long before we need helmets to walk?? Remember some of us, perhaps the longer legged variety can walk pretty fast. Don't even think about running.
Fast, fun and dangerous
With the average speed of a sled reaching 19 mph, some health officials push for wearing helmets
By ERIN RICHARDS
erichards@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Dec. 21, 2007
Although she can't remember, Emily Ziebell was probably having fun four years ago while night sledding in Waukesha.
It was close to midnight at Lowell Park, which has one of the best sledding hills in the county, and Ziebell, who had just turned 20, jumped on a snow tube with a friend. The friend fell off while they were zooming down the hill, but Ziebell continued and slammed into a tree trunk, splitting open her skull and crushing her left arm.
Ziebell, now 24, still has speech and coordination issues but has recovered remarkably, said her mother, Mary.
Snow, gravity and speed have long been an exhilarating wintertime combination, but it's also one that produces a small but inevitable number of injuries. Area trauma centers are reporting the usual snowboarding wrist fractures, sledding concussions and ankle injuries, but Children's Hospital of Wisconsin already has admitted three children since Nov. 1 for sledding injuries. That's more in-patient sledding accident victims than in the five-month season last year.
How much to push?
Those figures, coupled with a new study that reports sleds reach average speeds of 19 miles per hour, have some health officials wondering how far to push the helmet issue.
"The challenge that we face is that it's not the norm - nor is it likely to ever be the norm - for kids to wear helmets while sledding," said Bridget Clementi, injury and prevention manager at Children's Hospital and Health System. Clementi said the Injury Free Coalition for Kids recently compared the average speed of a sled at 19 mph with the average speed of a kid on a bike, which is 10 to 15 mph.
Many parents have made it a habit to make kids wear helmets on their bikes, Clementi said.
"We don't want to kill the fun, but we are starting to look at reaching out to parents on sledding safety," Clementi said.
Clementi said parents should be aware of where their children are sledding and be around to supervise if necessary. She said children should slide feet first and parents who ride with small children probably should practice bailing out so the child knows what to do in case of an emergency.
Sledding helmets for sale
Health industry professionals aren't the only ones who have become more attuned to the helmet issue. For the first time this year, Blain's Farm & Fleet stocked sledding helmets beside its sleds.
Blain's supply spokeswoman Renee Tarnutzer couldn't say whether the helmets, which cost about $18 and cover the ears, were selling well, but Thursday at the Farm and Fleet in Waukesha, every sled, toboggan, disc and snow tube was sold out.
Helmets were plentiful.
"I push (helmets) with bicycling; it's an automatic. But we haven't gotten to the point of wearing them while sledding," parent Amy James said Friday at Lowell Park. Around her, children on all sorts of plastic sleds reached the bottom of the hill, hooting and laughing.
James added her family's safe sledding regimen includes choosing hills that are less steep and that have no fixed obstacles in the way.
"I think it's part of how you were raised. I didn't wear a helmet sledding growing up," James said. "But then again, I didn't wear a seat belt either. Who knows? Maybe in a couple years we'll all wear helmets out here."
At the request of Children's Hospital, Waukesha police Officer Jake Trussoni used his radar gun on Lowell Park's sledders Friday. The slowest speed on the wet and sticky snow was 10 mph, the fastest speed, recorded by adult/child teams on sleds and a pair of adolescent snowboarders, was 17 mph.
Sporting a pair of camouflaged snow pants and a new snowboard, Jordan Schimel,12, also wore a black, vented helmet while coming down the hill.
"I don't wear a helmet while riding a bike," Jordan said. "But this is my third time snowboarding, and when I tried it for the first time in Colorado this year, I broke my wrist. I haven't been out in a few days so I thought I'd wear it."
Schimel's friend 12-year-old Chaz Perry said he had a helmet but forgot to bring it with him Friday. It's not that helmets are uncool or anything, Chaz said, but he added he wouldn't want to wear one while sledding.
Mary Ziebell said her family advocates using bike helmets but isn't sure about sledding helmets.
"Could (a helmet) have helped Emily? Maybe," she said. "But it doesn't provide help for everything, and her brain still would have been knocked around. I think it's more important to be extraordinarily careful about where you sled."
How long before we need helmets to walk?? Remember some of us, perhaps the longer legged variety can walk pretty fast. Don't even think about running.
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I didn't ever wear a bicycle helmet until I got a skinny-tire road bike. I figured I ought to wear one when I looked at my speedometer coming down a hill and I was doing 55. 0 -
I've never worn a helmet when skiing. Why should I wear one while sledding?
When did it become the government's job to protect us from ourselves?
Aren't we interfering with evolution by preventing the stupid ones from killing themselves?0 -
and be extra careful if you are sledding behind an auto. 0 -
Although not required by law, I often make my kids wear helmets while skiing, riding bikes, and other stuff.
I don't need a law. My motivation is that I don't want to push them around in a wheelchair for the rest of my life.0 -
quote:Originally posted by GUNFUNCO
Although not required by law, I often make my kids wear helmets while skiing, riding bikes, and other stuff.
I don't need a law. My motivation is that I don't want to push them around in a wheelchair for the rest of my life.
My nephew was going down a hill on his bike when he hit a grate in the road. Front tire stopped, he flipped head first over the handlebars and landed on the road on his head. Had some dental work, but the helmet absorbed most of the blow. Doctor said it would have been much worse without it.0 -
I just saw in the TV news that a 13year old girl was killed while sking at Schess Mountain in northern Michigan yesterday. Don't know if a helmet was worn or not. 0 -
Mandate cacoons for EVERYBODY.
To be worn at ALL times.
Problem(s) solved.
[^]barto[^]0 -
quote:Originally posted by barto
Mandate cacoons for EVERYBODY.
To be worn at ALL times.
Problem(s) solved.
[^]barto[^]
BARTO FOR PRESIDENT !!
He will make us safe, and we will live forever !!
Doug0
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