Minimizing The Risk Of TBI Or SCI
Driving and athletic activities both carry a risk of serious, life-threatening injury such as a brain or spinal cord injury. Please take a moment to review this video to discover steps that can be taken to lower the risk of serious injury.
Step 1: Minimize The Risk
Hi I'm Marcy from brainandspinalcord.org. Today I'm going to be talking about how to minimize the risk of traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries. Be sure to check the website for all relevant links and a recap of this article.
Step 2: Populations At Risk
If you or a loved one has experienced a traumatic brain or spinal cord injury, then you are all too aware of how a life can be changed in a split second. I ask you to spend the next couple of minutes listening to the following information not only for your own personal benefit but so that you can also share it with others.
The two biggest populations at risk for brain and spinal cord injuries are drivers and athletes. Let's first talk about how drivers can minimize their risk of life altering and then move on to athletes.
Step 3: Driving
First of all, we live in a busy world where our society puts great stock in our ability to multi-task and nowhere is this more evident than on our roadways. You've all seen it. You're cruising down the interstate on your way to work to not only to be cut off by someone yapping on their cell phone, applying their make up or getting into their yoga clothes.
Unfortunately, there's not a lot you can do about these drivers except to be watchful of them. But where you can really make a difference is in your own actions on the road. Always pay full attention to the road.
You may feel confident in your ability to multi-task while driving, but studies have shown that this type of behavior dramatically decreases a person's ability to react quickly to situations. For the sake of your life as well as the lives of the strangers who depend on you to be alert turn off your cell phone and put away all other distractions.
Otherwise you risk permanently changing a life and that's just not worth it. Other things drivers should do to minimize their risk of brain and spinal cord injury include wearing a safety belt, driving defensively and never driving while intoxicated, fatigued or on medications that impair alertness.
Step 4: Athlete's
Sports are fun but nothing turns that fun into tragedy like sustaining a brain or spinal cord injury. While it's important to prevent all sports related brain and spinal cord injuries these are the steps that athletes can take to reduce risk.
First of all, always wear the suggested protective gear. If you're a cyclist, a skateboarder, a roller blader or an athlete that participates in high impact sports, such as snow sports or hockey or lacrosse that means wearing a helmet every time you engage in your activity.
Second, be safety conscious and don't attempt high-risk tricks or stunts. Finally, prepare yourself by knowing exactly what you should do should a brain or spinal cord injury occur. If there's even a remote chance that a brain or spinal cord injury has occurred, seek medical attention immediately.
Step 5: Delayed Impact
Remember, brain and spinal cord injuries can be caused without any direct impact to the area of injury and sometimes do not show symptoms for several days or weeks.
When it comes to minimizing the risk of brain and spinal cord injuries we need to look out for ourselves as well as for each other. When you think about it it's amazing how often we rely on the judgment and competence of complete strangers for our own safety. Be aware and save a life.
Step 6: Conclusion
This concludes our segment on how to minimize the risk of traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries. Remember to check our website for the most up-to-date information including resources and tips regarding brain and spinal cord injuries and thanks again for watching.
