How about Seat belt for prevention?

Seat Belt No Excuses

As a medical professional it is extremely frustrating to review charts of MVA(Motor Vehicle Accident) patients that were seriously injured, especially when most of these spinal injuries could have easily been prevented with consistent use of a seat belt.

With all the talks about evidence based medicine, natural medicine, prevention, and wellness both in the media and academia, I hardly hear about one of the most important preventative measure “Seat Belts” while it does not sound catchy as the latest diet fad, or the newest supplement, I wish to discuss and re-emphasize just how important this simple act of wearing a seat belt is for reduction of serious injuries, and death.

On the road to prevention: road injury and health promotion.

Abstract

Road traffic injuries are already the leading cause of injury mortality and morbidity globally and by 2030 are predicted to be the fifth leading cause of mortality in the world. Australia has seen a dramatic reduction in road deaths and serious injuries since the 1970s and holds an international reputation for road traffic injury prevention due, in part, to its success in pioneering the multidisciplinary and intersectoral approach needed to address this significant issue and by applying an evidence-led approach to policy development. The paper will discuss Australia’s early success in road traffic injury prevention (road safety), particularly the achievements following the implementation of targeted programs that focussed on road user behaviours for which health promotion played a role. The most successful of these programs was the introduction of comprehensive seat belt laws, random breath testing and more recently, strategic speed enforcement programs. Amid an array of significant challenges faced by the transport system in the future, the rapid development in information and communication technologies applied to transport is likely to provide the next generation of road safety benefits. The potential for a semi-autonomous transport system is likely to provide the next significant decline in road fatalities and serious injuries over the next 2 decades and the role of health promotion in relation to raising community engagement and building coalitions to increase uptake of new technologies will be discussed.

 

The impact of seat-belts in limiting the severity of injuries in patients presenting to a university hospital in the developing world.

BACKGROUND:

Road traffic injuries are major public health problems and a leading cause of death and injury around the world. Approximately 1.2 million people are killed each year in road crashes worldwide, with up to 50 million more injured. Over 95% of these deaths and injuries occur in the low- and middle-income countries of the world. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of the use of seat-belts in reducing the severity of injuries from road traffic crashes and to determine the compliance and awareness of the importance of the use of seat-belts among Nigerian motorists.

PATIENTS AND METHODS:

The injury patterns and outcome of care in 140 patients who were seen at the emergency department of our tertiary hospital were evaluated. Initial care and resuscitation was carried out on all patients using the advanced trauma life support protocol.

RESULTS:

A total of 81 (57%) patients used seat-belts, while 59 (42.1%) did not. Nineteen (13.6%) patients died as a result of their injuries; 4 (21.1%) of these had used seat-belts, while 15 (79%) had not (P = 0.001). The mortality rate of 79% for patients who did not use seat-belt was statistically significant.

CONCLUSIONS:

The seat-belt is an effective safety tool that not only saves lives, but also significantly reduces the severity of the injury that a vehicle occupant may have sustained if they were not wearing the device. More public enlightenment is needed to increase the awareness and compliance of use of seat-belts among Nigerian motorists.

 

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