By Karen D. Lorentz
updated
Wed, Jan 18, 2012 08:55 AM
PHAT is the dual acronym for "Protect your Head on All Terrain"
and "Protect your Head at All Times."
It was developed as a slogan to help increase voluntary helmet use
among children by the Vermont Snow Sports Research Team. Dr. Robert
Williams, study coordinator, pediatric anesthesiologist, and
critical care specialist at Vermont Children's Hospital at Fletcher
Allen, noted that foremost the campaign goals is "Promoting skiing
as a positive and healthy choice for children (and adults). We are
in the midst of an absolute epidemic of childhood obesity... As a
pediatrician I believe passionately that a day on the slopes is a
much healthier (and safer) choice for a child than spending a day
at the mall or parked in front of a television eating chips... We
want to make this healthy choice as positive and safe as possible,"
he said.
Although helmets had been around for many years, the deaths of
Michael Kennedy and Sony Bono in 1998 renewed attention to their
use by recreational skiers and snowboarders. The 2009 death of
actress Natasha Richardson, who died as a result of a head injury
sustained in a fall on the bunny slope, brought further
awareness.
National Ski Areas Association data indicates that voluntary helmet
use in America increased in the 2009/10 season to 57 percent of all
skiers/riders, with higher rates since in children and folks over
the age of 65.
Medical analysis
Snowsport head injuries can occur during a collision (with a person
or object) or from a fall. During the impact, the brain's forward
motion decelerates within the skull, deforming as it does so, and
then shakes back. It's an action has a similar effect as
shaken-baby syndrome, said Dr. Stewart Levy, a Colorado
neurosurgeon and helmet researcher/advocate.
A helmet protects against brain injury in two ways. One is by
deflecting the blow and dissipating the energy. The helmet's foam
padding absorbs energy and slows the rate of the brain's
deceleration. The other protection come from its "hard shell, which
can prevent direct impact skull fractures, contusions, and bone
cutting into the brain," Levy said.
Lids on kids, adults too
Dr. Levy said "It's not rocket science to put helmets on kids" but
stressed that this logic applies to adults as well. "The older one
gets, the more severe the injury - subdural hematomas go up
exponentially with age as do fatalities and recovery times.
Inherent biological differences make some more susceptible - as the
brain shrinks with age, there is more rattle room in the skull.
Tolerance and recovery begin to be affected as early as age 40,"
Dr. Levy said.
Studies based on head injuries, seen at major trauma centers, show
that helmets reduce the risk of brain injury among skiers and
snowboarders by 65 to 75 percent. And that helmets reduce the
severity of brain injury even in major accidents.
Carl Ettlinger, president of Vermont Ski Safety, Inc. and a
long-time ski safety researcher, also cautioned: "Don't let
yourself be lulled into a sense of invincibility while using a
helmet. When you feel that rush of adrenalin while skiing, ask
yourself if you would be doing what you are doing if you were not
wearing a helmet. If the answer is 'no' maybe you should reconsider
the activity."
Not mandatory
Because there is a major concern that requiring helmet usage would
confer a sense of invulnerability and encourage unsafe behaviors,
the ski industry has not adopt mandatory usage. The number of skier
injuries had actually decreased, and the ski industry didn't want
to see them tick back up due to offsetting behaviors among helmet
wearers.
This decision was in part due to a U.S. Consumer Product Safety
Study in 2001, which showed that despite increased bike helmet
usage, head injuries rose. Experts believed this was due to
increased risk-taking.
Speed compromises effectiveness
"There are limitations on their effectiveness beyond certain
speeds," warns Dr. Jasper Shealy of the Rochester Institute of
Technology, who has spent 30 plus years studying snowsport injuries
and collaborates with Ettlinger.
"Speed is the worst enemy, especially among teenagers," he said,
noting that kids in the highest-risk age group (12-20 year-olds)
are going faster with a helmet.
"Helmets help under specific conditions… Helmets will probably be
effective for glancing blows, but not for direct impact with fixed
objects above 20 km/h, (12.4 mph)," Shealy and Ettlinger
advise.
Dr. Shealy explained that the human body is built to sustain impact
up to our maximum speed. We can run about 12 mph (a trained runner
can reach 16 mph) so that is about the limit. When we collide with
something at speeds greater than that, our aorta bursts and we
bleed to death.
Helmets will not prevent such injuries when travelling 20-30+ mph.
Unfortunately, studies show that many skiers and riders are
reaching such speeds even on blue cruisers.
That said, Dr. Shealy also notes that, "During the past 29 seasons
in our study, only 2.6 percent of all medically significant
injuries in skiing are what we call a potentially serious head
injury. (The comparable figure for bicycles is 32 percent.)"
He advises that use of a helmet can be "an effective part of an
individual program to increase one's safety on the slope…Wear a
helmet but ski and snowboard as if you weren't wearing one."
Killington initiatives
Many areas like Killington follow National Ski Areas Association
guidelines that promote informed choice for mature adults and
parents while recommending their use as part of an overall safety
program.
Killington's Snowsport School Director Dave Beckwith notes that
Killington follows the new Powdr Corp policy (Powdr is Killington's
corporate parent) that now requires helmets for those ages 17 or
under taking lessons. Beckwith says he has received no reports of
"pushback from parents or kids" which "pleasantly surprised"
him.
Beckwith believes this in part due to the fact that people are
seeing more helmets in various action sports like mountain biking
as well as a greater representation in the lift lines.
Helmets are for added protection-they are not a guarantee of
safety. But if you value your cognitive abilities, or that of your
offspring, consider what the experts advise to prevent head
injuries.
"There is no black and white line where a helmet will help or not
help in an injury. Certainly at very high speeds they will be of
minimal value; however, if I impact my head with a hard object at
17 mph I'd rather have a helmet on," concludes Dr. Williams, an
avid snowboarder.
Tagged:
PHAT, helmet, helmet use, protective gear
