bfu Council for accident prevention Prevention of head Injuries 36 th SITEMSH Congress, 13.03.2018. Arosa (CH) Othmar Brügger, MSc, teamleader sports research o.bruegger@bfu.ch www.bfu.ch Flavia Bürgi, PhD, research associate, Research
Injury localization in snow sports, (Ø 2010-2014) Type of sport injured persons Skiing 51,000 Snowboarding 14,000 Total 65,000 16 % head 15 % head Skull, brain ~ 3 % by 100 persons injuried Total of sports accidents among the Swiss population: 410,000 injured persons with medical treatment (Ref. www.bfu.ch STATUS, 2017) Prevention of head injuries, Othmar Brügger 2
bfu Council for accident prevention Injury Control Strategy: Haddon-Matrix Phase Agent: human Vector: energy Environment Risk behaviour Speed Slope design Pre-event Readiness Skiing skills Equipment Visibility Event Fall experience Constitution Helmet-wearing PPE Collision object Post-event Compliance Age First Aide Rescue service Haddon Snowparks, W. Othmar Advances Brügger in the Epidemiology of Injuries as a Basis for Public Policy. Public Health Rep. 1980; 3 95(5): 411-421
bfu Beratungsstelle für Unfallverhütung Individual protective gear in snow sport: Survey of wearer behaviour and reasons for non-wearing Objectives Barriers and facilitators Target group Methods In 21 winter-sports resorts 1 500 2 000 face-to-face long interviews 2003/2007/2008/2010/2018 ~5,000 observations 2003/2005-2016 Prevention of head injuries, Othmar Brügger 4
bfu Council for accident prevention bfu campaign: 2003 2007 Prevention of head injuries, Othmar Brügger 5
bfu Council for accident prevention bfu campaign «1000 Accidents a Day» 2007-2010 Prevention of head injuries, Othmar Brügger 6
Aim of the campaign «1 000 Accidents a Day» To promote the wearing of helmets by skiers and snowboarders by influencing behavior-relevant factors - awarness of danger - perceived vulnerablity - comfort Focused on 13- to 30-year-old mainly beginner and intermediate snow sports participants Prevention of head injuries, Othmar Brügger 7
bfu Council for accident prevention bfu campaign 2017+ ~( Even slower and You're gonna drive backwards ) Better tips on: sport.bfu.ch ~~( think about what you do in sports stop sport accidents ) Prevention of head injuries, Othmar Brügger 8
Rate of helmet use in Switzerland 100% 92% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% 2002/03 2003/04* 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 Ski Snowboard Total Source: bfu, person recorded (sample) p. a. 5,000-7,500 2014/15 2015/16 Prevention of head injuries, Othmar Brügger 9
Rate of helmet use in snowsports, by age 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% 2002/03 2003/04* 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 0 17 18 25 26 45 46 64 65+ Total Source: bfu, person recorded (sample) p. a. 5,000-7,500 Prevention of head injuries, Othmar Brügger 10
bfu Council for accident prevention Injury risk and development 2.9 accidents per 1000 skier-days (SD) with: 2.8 skiers/1000 SD & 3.1 snowborders/1000 SD 4.0 3.0 2.0 1.0 0.0 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Ref: Bianchi et al. 2017, 29-39 Injury risk remained relatively stable in the last 10-15 years Prevention of head injuries, Othmar Brügger 11
bfu Council for accident prevention Fatality rate: 0.6 deaths per 1 million skier days 1.2 1.2 1.0 1.0 1.4 1.2 0.8 0.8 1 0.6 0.6 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.2 0.2 0.2 0 0.0 0.0 2000 2001 fatalities/ 1 Mio. skiers days Injury risk and the fatality rate remained relatively stable in the last 15 years 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Ref: Bianchi et al. Snow Sports Trauma and Safety: Conference Proceedings of the International Society for Skiing Safety: 21st Volume, 2017, 29-39 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Corresponds to 20 fatalities/ Season for Piste + Freeride Prevention of head injuries, Othmar Brügger 12
A reduction of severe head injuries Increase of the helmet wearing rate Reduction of the risk of head injuries (Shealy et al. Skiing Trauma & Safety 20th Vol. (2015); Bailly et al. Wilderness & Env. Med. 2018) «...,the hoped for benefit with regard to death has not been shown» Shealy et al., ISSS 2017 p. 29) Prevention of head injuries, Othmar Brügger 13
Racing helmet conform to FIS specifications 2013 ASTM 2040 / EN 1077A And: Testing procedure EN 1077A with 6,8 m/s, instead of 3.84 m/s resp. 2.71 m/s «Helmet with FIS standard offers higher protection mechanism» Prevention of head injuries, Othmar Brügger 14
Multi-directional Impact Protection System (MIPS) To reduce the rotational component of an impact Prevention of head injuries, Othmar Brügger 15
There are questions about how much a slip plane actually helps. Prevention of head injuries, Othmar Brügger 16
Biomechanical effect of MIPS technology Patrick Isler (2018) Dynamic Test Center, Vauffelin (CH) (on behalf of the bfu) «The results have shown that a slip plane in helmets (MIPS) provides improved protection against rotational loads.» Prevention of head injuries, Othmar Brügger 17
The bottom line The protective effect of snow sports helmets has been proven The protective effect can still be improved further slip planes (e.g. MIPS)? SPIN pads ( shearing pads inside )? airbag technology (e.g. Hövding)? honeycomb? air-filled bladder? Multilayer concept? More rounded design (esp. in Cycling)? Effect of a helmet mounted camera? Prevention of head injuries, Othmar Brügger 18
bfu Council for accident prevention Swiss Council for Accident Prevention Swiss Competence and Coordination Centre for Accident Prevention thanks for your interest www.bfu.ch Prevention of head injuries, Othmar Brügger 19