Posts Tagged ‘motor vehicle accidents’

Your Weekly Resource

Wednesday, August 20th, 2008

This week’s resource is the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) teen driver fact sheet.

The CDC says that motor vehicle accidents are the leading U.S. cause of teen deaths, accounting for more than one in three deaths. This site has some valuable information such as the size of this problem, who is at risk, risk factors and how to prevent these accidents.

They include a section specifically for traumatic brain injury (TBI), citing 1.4 million cases a year in the U.S. alone.

For more information and additional resources, visit the CDC fact sheet.

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Friday’s Fact

Friday, August 15th, 2008

Did you know that motor vehicle accidents are the number one cause of spinal cord injuries in kids? Not surprising, an estimated 70 percent of these injuries happened to children who were not wearing seat belts.

Even a small impact, such as a minor rear-ending, can cause potential spinal cord damage. Here are some of the symptoms to look for:

Flaccid extremties

Paralysis

Numbness or paresthesias (sensations such as tingling or burning)

Paresis or weakness

Priaprism

Incontinence of bowel or bladder

Injuries to the spinal cord are difficult to discover in children, so it’s necessary to closely monitor for these signs as well as indicators of pain or poor reflexes.

While we can’t always prevent an injury, we can work to limit the damage by acting quickly after an accident.

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