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Regions Hospital offers tips on preventing bicycle-related injuries
April 13, 2009
St. Paul, Minn. - Warmer weather and longer days mean more people will be biking on trails and streets in the metro area, which also leads to an increase in emergency room visits for bicycle-related injuries. In 2008, 140 bicycle-related injuries were treated at Regions Hospital. Of those, 88 occurred from May to August. Many of the injuries resulted from falling off or crashing a bike, such as collar bone fractures, wrist and finger fractures, and leg contusions.
"The most important thing anyone can do is wear a helmet at all times when you are biking," said Carson Harris, MD, emergency department physician with HealthPartners Medical Group at Regions Hospital. "While head injuries are not the most common bike injury we see in the emergency department, they are the most serious and can be prevented by wearing a helmet."
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, bicycle helmets are 85 to 88 percent effective at preventing head and brain injuries.
Dr. Harris offers other tips for preventing bicycle-related injuries including:
- Wear bright or florescent colors, especially when biking at night, to increase your visibility
- Always check for traffic before entering a street
- Obey traffic laws
- Do not ride with headphones on
- Know your surroundings
About Regions Hospital
Regions Hospital is a Level I Trauma Center and teaching hospital serving Minnesota and western Wisconsin for more than 130 years. Regions is a private, non-profit hospital providing outstanding care in womens health, heart, cancer, surgery, orthopaedics, neurosciences, burn, emergency care and more. Regions is part of the HealthPartners family of care. Additional information is available at regionshospital.com.
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