I overheard a really scary statistic in the office today. In our hospital (to remain nameless to protect the innocent...and myself), less than 10% of bike crashes that are admitted for treatment or observation are wearing a helmet at the time of injury. You wanna know the same statistic for kids wearing helmets on ripsticks and scooters? 0%. Yes. ZERO.
Let me rephrase that. If your kid got in a bike crash and was injured enough to be admitted to the hospital - 9 out of 10 of them weren't wearing a helmet. None of the ripstick and scooter kids who were hurt enough to need admission were wearing helmets. NONE.
Awesome.
So when should they start wearing helmets? When they start picking up some speed? When they are big enough to lose the training wheels when they're tall enough to be more than a foot from the ground?? No. Start the practice of wearing a helmet the FIRST time they ever get on wheels in the first place. Come on. You know the drill. The earlier you introduce good habits (and morals for that matter), the easier they stick. And the less you have to fight with them later about it.
Is there a conclusion for this? Yes. We can't fix brains. So protect them. If your kid doesn't like the helmet, no bike. No scooter. You're the adult. Set the rules. They'll appreciate it when they don't have to go to prom in a wheelchair with a chaperone to suction out their tracheostomy. And if they don't appreciate it then, it doesn't matter anyway.
But this little face matters...
Lady Bug helmet by Bell on June, age 3 1/2y at time of picture, and Disney Cars helmet on Max age 2 years. Both under $20.
I remember as a young child seeing my mom smile over us one night as my brother and I were eating our dinner. When I asked her what she was smiling about she had a simple reply that has lasted all these years in my memory, "Mother's love to see their babies eat."
I don't know if it stuck with me because it was such an odd reply for an young child to fully grasp? Or maybe I had already begun to understand God's working in my heart to fight for impoverished children. Either way, it stuck with me.
During lunch when I sat down with my nearly three year old over grilled cheeses and Sun Chips, we get a knock on the door. (Yes a knock. All potential ringers are warned of their responsibility to babysit if they ring the doorbell.) It's a bright orange box. Vemma.
As I bring it in, June starts saying, "NEXT?? I want NEXT! Pleeeeeease!!"
There goes that same smile across my face and warmth in my heart just as my mother had all those years ago. And I get it. Fully get it.
As I've been studying for my Primary Care Pediatric boards today, I'm reminded a lot of Haiti. Understand that pediatric healthcare in Haiti is much different than here. However, with the increased MISUNDERSTANDING and blatant DISREGARD by Americans for immunizations and healthcare in general, there is a ever increasing need for pediatric providers to identify and treat diseases that were almost extinct from our continent.
One review question just read:
A 17-year-old student is seen in the school-based clinic for a fever and sore throat of 4 days' duration. The results of the rapid strep screen confirm the diagnosis of streptococcal pharyngitis. The student has had a problem remembering to take other medications, and the PNP wants to ensure compliance with an antibiotic. The PNP decides to give:
A.
B.
C.
D.
In Haiti, right after the earthquake, I came in contact with probably 500 children. All broken in someway. If not physically then emotionally. Socially. Spiritually. We gave out thousands of prescriptions, vitamins, over-the-counter analgesics. And lots of shots. Rocephin. That's what we had.
Now as a pediatric trauma nurse, we don't do a whole lot of shots. Contrary to popular belief, shots don't cure all. But somehow this idea is multi-cultural. The Haitians see a cure-all in a good old fashioned shot, too.
This summer I was present for probably 200+ immunizations during my clinical time in a pediatric primary care clinic. About 80% of the time we had to wrangle and struggle and LAY on top of kids - OLDER KIDS sometimes to give them their immunizations, only to be kicked, grabbed, spit on, you name it - it happened.
Engrained forever in my visual memory is a young Haitian boy about 7 or 8 (maybe older? they are all skinny and short due to malnourishment...) who walked over the the "pharmacy" in which I was the "pharmacist" for the day and handed me his little piece of torn off paper with a smile. This paper acted as his "prescription" from one of the doctors he just saw.
"Rocephin"
Got it. So I sat him down in a chair, spoke to him in my broken French and pulled up his sleeve. He was there alone. No parent holding his hand. No onegiving him the pep talk, or telling him he could have ice cream when we were done. So I gave him that nurses look deep into his eyes that said, "this will hurt, but only for a second." He nodded at me, took several deep breaths in and out, and with eyes open and not a flinch or a tear, he took that whole IM needle into his skinny little arm and said "merci" when it was over.
And that was it. No drama. No crying. No fighting. And no parent to encourage that behavior. He took his sticker that I gave to all my patients, and went on his way.
So I think of this brave young soul who survived an earthquake, who may have lost family members but most certainly lost friends and shelter. I think of him being brave enough to endure a needle in a malnourished arm with the hopes that western medicine can make him well. Because he knows what it looks like to be ill. He has seen death from flu and diarrhea and pneumonia and other preventable illnesses. He's seen the value in protection and treatment.
I think of him as I read the review question about a 17 year old who can't remember to take his medications but is sick enough to walk into your clinic. And I'm sad it's even worth bringing up on a test for pediatric care licensure in America.
She's basically the bomb. Don't believe me? Go listen to "Just Leave Everything To Me" from Hello Dolly. Geez Louise.
2.) Apple iOS 4, thank you.
3.) If you haven't bought Refuge yet from Amazon, do it today. See the link on the right. Do it.
4.) I finished Anthony Rapp's autobiography "Without You." Skip it. (For the Sad Sack reading this that doesn't know who AR is - ever heard of RENT? Dazed and Confused? I thought so!)
5.) Savy Health Tip of the week: don't share antibiotics with friends! When your NP or doctor writes you a prescription for antibiotics, take the full amount EVEN IF YOU FEEL BETTER after a couple of days. Not finishing a full course of antibiotics and/or sharing them leads to drug resistant bacteria in your body. That means the next time you take the antibiotic it won't work! MRSA originates here!
Moving on....
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone (in the usual Broadway song and dance style)
I love when the mail comes. Now that school work is finally complete, and the "only" other commitment I have (besides the usual) is getting my practicum hours done, I've picked up reading again. All the time. I have caught myself wanting to leave dinner early or stop a movie in the middle so I can get back to my book. Today the mail brought me my next great read: A Little Bit Wicked by the great Kristin Chenoweth. Thank you Amazon. Good timing too. I'm seeing Wicked (minus her and the other great - Idina) on Wednesday at the all-too-horrid Fair Park. Eh, I'll slum it for the sake of hearing Defying Gravity live from 25+ feet in the air and watching a perfectly costumed company fill the stage as they sing about their short day in the Emerald City.
The last book I finished was one of my favorites probably ever - right next to the Scarlett Letter and the Mark of the Lion Series. Her Mother's Hope by Francine Rivers. I had no idea where it was heading and was rightly surprised and enthralled. (SPOILER ALERT: the main character's daugther gets sick with pneumonia and is taken care of by a nurse....she starts her path to becoming a nurse right before the start of WWII)
Right now I'm reading Without You by Anthony Rapp. Autobiographies are generally my favorites. I recommend Love, Lucy by Lucille Ball. Read it twice. And the one by Mickey Mantel...although I can't think of what it's called. Did I even spell his last name right? How imbarassing...
In light of many clinical hours completed and many more to come....I leave you with todays Savy Health Tip: don't stop taking your daily medications because they've fixed you. For example, if you're an asthmatic, don't stop taking your daily controller medication because you haven't had a bad attack lately (the controller has kept you from a bad attack); if you've got high blood pressure, don't stop taking your medication because they've been normal (the medication has kept you from having high BP); if you're depressed, don't stop taking your medication because you have felt well (the medication is helping you not feel down).... on top of preventing all those primary maladies, they're also preventing much worse things like lung remodeling, kidney failure, suicide....so in my best commercial voice I say.....please, discuss with your doctor or nurse practitioner before making any changes to your medications.
I overheard a really scary statistic in the office today. In our hospital (to remain nameless to protect the innocent...and myself), less than 10% of bike crashes that are admitted for treatment or observation are wearing a helmet at the time of injury. You wanna know the same statistic for kids wearing helmets on ripsticks and scooters? 0%. Yes. ZERO.
