Head trauma !

The death of a fifteen year old boy playing Rugby League as a school sport has shocked many parents.  It brings home the fact that head trauma can happen so innocently - and the results can be both catastrophic and sudden.   In this case, a tackle brought contact between his head and another player's knee - and seconds later irreparable damage had occurred.     Resuscitation was immediately applied and the boy was taken to hospital, but in the end the only alternative was to discontinue his life support system.

This death has caused all the sporting codes to have a re-think on safety measures.  High on the list is a proposal to make a safety helmet compulsory for all forms of contact sport.   The medical profession is suggesting that more thought be given to grading the weight and size of players to achieve a common factor.  Most competitions use age as a demarcation, but the size of growing kids varies widely and it is common for any team to include someone who is big for his age - and someone who is precisely the opposite.

Fortunately, death on a sporting field is rare.   Unfortunately, death from head trauma is very common.  It usually only comes to our attention when it receives media attention.   Many people were aghast to learn that a drug intoxicated bully king hit an innocent young man having a night out in King's Cross - and that when he fell, the contact between his head and the footpath inflicted terminal brain damage.    The sheer brutality of that attack illustrated the vulnerability of the human head.

This vulnerability caused  legislation to force riders of bicycles and motorbikes to wear head protection.   That requirement does not extend to car drivers, and yet in a car crash it is often head trauma that is the ultimate cause of death.  Forcing car drivers to wear helmets was considered too great an intrusion - and as an alternative, all modern cars now have air bags fitted to lessen head impact in a crash.

So - we are ever slowly moving towards measures to provide head protection.   No doubt this death will tighten the sporting codes and the car industry has safety as one of it's biggest selling points, but the average persons unprotected head remains vulnerable.   Simple slips and falls can inflict brain damage and the danger increases substantially if our social scene includes venues where alcohol is served.   Head trauma is so often the outcome when a drunken brawl erupts.

If nothing else, the tragic events that happened to this young man may cause some people to rethink the risks involved.  The human head is the brain centre that controls the entire body.   The loss of various other body parts can usually be accommodated with difficulty, but if the head function is lost - life is extinguished.

Perhaps a good reason to treat it with care !