North Memorial Leads Effort To Reduce Biking Brain Injuries
North Memorial offered a bike helmet fitting event at its Maple Grove Hospital on Wednesday. Parents and their children could pick up helmets at a reduced cost just in time for warmer weather.
Almost half of the sports head injuries in young children come from biking, skateboarding or skating incidents, according to Stanford Medicine.
“Injury prevention, in general, is something that we take a lot of pride in and work really hard to keep our community safe,” said Robin Trubeck, trauma program coordinator at North Memorial Health.
Each helmet cost $15 and came with a free, on-site fitting. They’re provided at that discount through the nonprofit Safe Kids Worldwide. Trubeck said this is one of many efforts to protect the community from brain injuries.
The display had helmets for sale in a variety of sizes. Staff at the station helped parents determine which sizes were best for their kids.
For parents who didn’t bring their kids in, staff also offered informational sheets on how to correctly fit a bike helmet.
Some tips say to make sure the helmet sits level on your head and low on your forehead. It also said to center the buckle under your chin, and ensure the slider on both straps forms a “V” shape under/slightly in front of your ears. It also asks that the chin strap is tight enough, so that no more than one or two fingers fit under the strap.
Trubeck said there also was a fitting event at the North Memorial Health Hospital in Robbinsdale last month.
North Memorial Health staff help others choose and correctly fit bike helmets for themselves and their families.
