Who wears a helmet?

I imagine big things like cars and buses are not on the slopes :roll:

A lot of the posts on this thread cite medical reasons for a helmet making no difference. Can I ask, are any of you doctors? And even if you are, are you a trauma specialist? If not, then your advice is dangerously ill-informed. What I'd really like to hear from is someone who is a medical trauma specialist with ski resort experience - if they say that the helmet makes no difference to trauma injury, then I'd be interested.

Iceman wrote:I imagine big things like cars and buses are not on the slopes :roll:

Not neccesarily true Icy .........

msej449 wrote:A lot of the posts on this thread cite medical reasons for a helmet making no difference. Can I ask, are any of you doctors? And even if you are, are you a trauma specialist? If not, then your advice is dangerously ill-informed. What I'd really like to hear from is someone who is a medical trauma specialist with ski resort experience - if they say that the helmet makes no difference to trauma injury, then I'd be interested.

The website belonging to Dr Mike Langran

Mike is the ski patrol doctor at CairnGorm Mountain in the Scottish Highlands & a GP (family doctor) at the Aviemore Medical Practice - the only general practice in the UK that treats significant numbers of acute snow sports injuries.

has in depth studies and plenty of insight. Here is a whole page on Helmets :D

http://www.ski-injury.com/prevention/helmet

A couple of points I would make on the statistics. While some studies show no reduction in fatalities, it should be remembered not everyone skis the same way. The most earlier adopters of helmets (certainly in the US) were the most experienced skiers and racers. This group tends to take more risk anyway and is more subject to fatalities when things go wrong. Including this group in the general population will skew the results. Following on from that, studies need to look at specific sub groups to reflect the real risk and benefits.

As for the comment on ski patrollers wearing helmets, locally I would estimate about 90%+ do. In the rockies the percentages looks a little less.

part of the report that Bandit cites

"The American Medical Association have produced arguably a more objective assessment of helmets for snow sports - click here to read their report - "Helmets for Recreational Skiing and Other Winter Sports in Children and Adolescents". Personally, I wear a helmet myself and would always recommend (but not force) others do so too - in my opinion there is no good reason not to wear a helmet other than personal choice. However, I also agree with the AMA's conclusion that there is insufficient evidence to support mandatory wearing of helmets on the slopes. Yes, head injuries do occur and yes, helmets will help in the vast majority of head injury situations.



"The argument is stronger for children who are at higher generic risk of injury on the slopes. In my opinion though, the fact remains that the risk of such an injury remains too small to insist that everyone on the slopes must wear a helmet. It should remain your personal choice at the end of the day."

as has been said many times before on various threads....

I think bandit says it all. Can we finish this thread yet? Nothin new is being said!!!!

Of course it's helpful in case of head injuries - that's why French made it mandatory for children. I think they based it on figures and made it to reduce heathcare costs as healthcare is free in France. But if the force of fall was enough to break a person's neck it's not helpful that any injury to the head was avoided. That's why I don't like it when people see in helmets their lifesavers. They still need to watch out and ski in control.