If your kids ride skateboards and bicycles and jump on trampolines this summer, insist that they use safety gear.
“Make sure they wear helmets and gloves because on skateboards and bikes, you fly and you skid,” says Jeffrey Later, RN, BSN CEN, Trauma Program Manager for Maui Health.
While there are no concussion-proof helmets, you can help protect your child from serious brain or head injury simply by measuring the helmet for size, adjusting the chin straps properly, and checking that their vision isn’t impeded.
“Protective gear also includes equipment to ensure you’re visible in traffic, like using a headlight and making sure you have reflector lights at night. It is so important that we teach our kids how to ride safely in traffic. When a child comes to the Emergency Room with severe injuries as a result of not wearing protective gear, it’s super sad because I know it was preventable. Teaching our children good safety habits from when they are young is fundamental to preventing tragedy.”
Trampoline injuries have a higher rate of hospital admissions with a longer length of stay than other childhood activity traumas. Failed attempts at somersaults and flips can cause devastating cervical spine injuries. Only one child should be allowed to jump at a time. Springs should be covered with padding. Keep ladders away so small children can’t jump without supervision. Vigilance is necessary. Most doctors counsel parents against recreational usage for the above reasons.
It’s up to parents to ensure that their kids wear safety gear and exercise caution. But when trauma does occur, the medical experts at Maui Health are ready, willing, and able to assist.
Maui Memorial Medical Center is currently a Hawaii State Designated Level III Trauma Center and is working towards an American College of Surgeons Level II Trauma verification in the next two years.
“We’re very fortunate to have the situation we have here in Maui County,” says Later. “The Maui Health administration is very forward-thinking, very motivated to bring additional services on board. We are making a big commitment to the community by investing in more doctors and services. This spring we will have a dedicated trauma service with surgeons whose only focus will be providing trauma care.”
Read more about what Maui Health is doing to grow services for our Maui community including physician recruitment and the path to becoming a Level II Verified Trauma Center at MauiHealth.org/commitment.
