On May 17, several health and community organizations will collaborate to host the Emergency Medicine Bike Safety Fair taking place at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis Festival Park from 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
This free, three-hour event will feature a bike giveaway, free bike helmets (while supplies last), a bike safety course, an obstacle course and stations for helmet-fitting, helmet decorating and traffic signaling/safety instruction. Stations will be staffed by emergency medicine faculty, residents and medical students from Indiana University School of Medicine.
The fair is an effort to educate children on the safest ways to enjoy their bikes in the hope of reducing the number of bicycle-related injuries. The event is being sponsored by the Indiana University School of Medicine Department of Emergency Medicine, Clarian Health’s Think First Program, The Children’s Museum, Indianapolis Neurosurgical Group, Emergency Medicine Student Interest Group (EMSIG) and Marion County Emergency Medical Services.
Dr. Jennifer Walthall, one of the event organizers and an emergency medicine physician with IUSM Department of Emergency Medicine, is excited about this community activity and the impact that physicians in emergency medicine can have in injury prevention.
“We are very excited about partnering with The Children’s Museum to reach a large group of children,” says Dr. Walthall. “It is our sincere hope to instill the spirit of injury prevention in our resident and medical student volunteers and to help assure a safe and happy summer to our neighborhood bicycle riders.”
According to the 2004 National SAFE KIDS Campaign fact sheet, most children (70 percent) ride bicycles, but only a quarter of them wear helmets. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that head injury is the leading cause of death in bicycle crashes.
But statistics also show that using a bicycle helmet can greatly reduce the risk of serious or fatal injury. According to the CDC, the use of bicycle helmets can eliminate 65 to 88 percent of bicycle-related brain injuries and 65 percent of serious injuries to the upper and middle regions of the face.
