Helmets

Helmets may save your life. 

The pitch 

If you are on your bike and you have an accident - a helmet will raise your odds of surviving.  A British youth wasn't wearing a helmet when he was hit by a van on the way to work. The immediate result was coma and brain damage. On the east coat, a skateboarding accident. 

Helmets need to:

• fit
• be new or relatively new
• be suited to the activity

The Helmets on Kids website has lots of great specific information to get that lid on your kid in a good way. If you want specific information on helmets for a particular sport, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a lot of info. 

Limitations of helmets

People can experience brain injury or concussion while wearing a helmet. Helmets don't completely prevent an injury; they reduce it's severity.  Dr. Alan Weintraub, Medical Director of the Craig Hospital's Traumatic Brain Injury Program in Denver, Colorado, says, "You shouldn't doubt wearing that lid for a second. Even though helmets weren't made to prevent concussions, they may reduce their severity.  Any protection to the head will lessen the concussive forces to the brain, there's no question". Michael Schumacher, the German Formula One racer, was skiing with a helmet on in France at the end of 2013 when he fell, hit his head on a jagged rock, and suffered a brain hemorrhage. He is still fighting hard to regain basic skills. On the other hand, Kevin Pearce, US snowboarder and 2010 Olympic hopeful, suffered a TBI from a crash in 2009. He has recovered well.

Science and technology are working hard at improving helmets: There are some manufacturer's who claim their products are better at mitigating brain trauma: yet others disagree.Regardless of how far science and technology has to go in creating a helmet that can prevent every brain injury, helmets do afford some protection.