Indeed, how hard to you think you have to hit your head on concrete before sustaining a serious injury? Now imagine if your head hit the pavement without the helmet on.
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I was surprised to find out what constitutes a head injury.
Also how much blood there is: after just a small gash on the scalp, there's blood all OVER the place.
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EMTs have to abide by lots of rules, and there are more than the usual number of rules for head injuries than for other categories.
Broken limb bones, open laceration wounds, vomiting, abrasions, bullet wounds, all those things have procedures attached.
But when it comes to head injury, suddenly you get another level of complications.
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So what is a "head injury?"
It's not only any visible blood on the head, wound, or visible bruise or abrasion on the head (from the neck up).
It's also any set of symptoms that indicate that MAYBE there has been a head injury, even if no visible clues on the head.
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Whenever an EMT has suspected head injury there is a series of checks he has to perform.
Stuff like check temperature, eye pupil dilation including right vs. left, consciousness/responsiveness to sound (if possible, low noise environment), ability to answer questions or follow by eye motion a moving object, throat obstruction, breathing pattern, ability to sit up, and so on.
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A sharp blow to the head can result in otherwise not immediately obvious but very consequential conditions such as brain swelling, or internal bleeding, or fluid buildup, sudden unconsciousness, loss of speech, vision, hearing, broken neck, etc.
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The Hollywood version of someone getting knocked out, and then after a minute or two regaining consciousness and everything's fine, is pretty much urban legend. It's only RARELY that simple.
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Doctors and nurses have to keep watch on a head injury patient sometimes for DAYS to be sure everything is okay.
And once it's been established that a complete recovery has happened, they still ask even weeks or months later if there have been any recurring symptoms.
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So while it might be thought of as "tough" or "manly" to ignore safety precautions to protect one's head, you ought to become informed about the sometimes fatal consequences but more often life-changing effects of head injury.
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You might look "cool" or carefree zipping around without a helmet on, and you might get away with it your whole life.
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Or, you might end up in a coma the rest of your life the first time you slip and fall off a bicycle -- and everything in between.
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The wise course of action demands that one would at least become cognizant of the dangers involved.