Williams Robert, Delaney Thomas, Nelson Eliot, Gratton Jennifer, Laurent Jennifer, Heath Barry
Department of Anaesthesia, College of Medicine, University of Vermont, USA.
Wilderness Environ Med. 2007 Summer;18(2):102-5. doi: 10.1580/06-WEME-OR-037R1.1.
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in skiing and snowboarding. Although previous studies have advocated the use of a helmet to reduce the incidence of TBI, only a minority of skiers and snowboarders wear helmets. The low use of helmets may be partially due to controversy regarding their effectiveness in a high-speed crash. The protective effect of a ski helmet is diminished at the high speeds a skier or snowboarder can potentially obtain on an open slope. However, ski areas have undergone significant changes in the past decade. Many skiers and snowboarders frequent nontraditional terrain such as gladed areas and terrain parks. Since these areas contain numerous physical obstacles, we hypothesized that skiers and snowboarders would traverse these areas at speeds slow enough to expect a significant protective effect from a helmet.
Speed data were obtained via radar analysis of 2 groups of expert level skiers and snowboarders traversing a gladed woods trail and terrain park.
A total of 113 observations were recorded. Forty-eight observations were made of 9 skiers and snowboarders in gladed terrain, and 65 observations were conducted of 21 skiers and snowboarders in the terrain park. In 79% of the cases in gladed terrain and 94% of the instances in the terrain park, observed speeds were less than 15 mph.
Skiers and snowboarders navigate nontraditional terrain at speeds slower than on open slopes. At the observed velocities, a helmet would be expected to provide significant help in diminishing the occurrence of TBI. Medical authorities should advocate the use of helmets as an important component of an overall strategy to reduce the incidence of TBI associated with skiing and snowboarding.
背景/目的：创伤性脑损伤（TBI）是滑雪和单板滑雪中发病和死亡的重要原因。尽管先前的研究主张使用头盔来降低TBI的发生率，但只有少数滑雪者和单板滑雪者佩戴头盔。头盔使用率低可能部分归因于其在高速碰撞中有效性的争议。在滑雪者或单板滑雪者在开阔斜坡上可能达到的高速下，滑雪头盔的保护作用会减弱。然而，在过去十年中滑雪区域发生了显著变化。许多滑雪者和单板滑雪者经常前往非传统地形区域，如林间空地和地形公园。由于这些区域有众多物理障碍物，我们推测滑雪者和单板滑雪者在穿越这些区域时的速度会足够慢，从而期望头盔能发挥显著的保护作用。
通过雷达分析两组专家级滑雪者和单板滑雪者穿越林间空地小径和地形公园的速度数据。
共记录了113次观察结果。对9名滑雪者和单板滑雪者在林间空地区域进行了48次观察，对21名滑雪者和单板滑雪者在地形公园进行了65次观察。在林间空地区域，79%的情况下观察到的速度低于每小时15英里；在地形公园，94%的情况下观察到的速度低于每小时15英里。
滑雪者和单板滑雪者在非传统地形上的行进速度比在开阔斜坡上慢。在观察到的速度下，头盔有望在减少TBI发生方面提供显著帮助。医疗机构应倡导将佩戴头盔作为降低与滑雪和单板滑雪相关的TBI发生率的整体策略的重要组成部分。
