News that actress Natasha Richardson died of head injuries after
falling on a ski slope has renewed debate over whether helmets should
be mandatory for snowboarders and downhill skiers.
The 45-year-old actress was not wearing a helmet when she fell
Monday at Mont Tremblant ski resort in Quebec. She died Wednesday in a
New York hospital.
It's unclear whether a helmet could have saved
Richardson. But research shows wearing a helmet decreases the
likelihood of having a head injury by 40 to 60 percent, said Dr. Robert
Williams, associate professor of anesthesia and pediatrics at Fletcher
Allen Health Care in Burlington, Vt.
"There's no downside at all to wearing a helmet," he said.
The
National Ski Areas Association is not aware of any states that mandate
helmets, but the association and its member resorts promote their use,
and a growing number of skiers and snowboarders choose to wear them.
According
to the group, nearly half of U.S. skiers and snowboarders wore helmets
in the past two years, up from about 25 percent five years earlier.
Sales of helmets have grown at a rate of about 9 percent each year
since 2005-2006, according to SnowSports Industries America.
Quebec
officials said Thursday that they are considering making helmets
mandatory on ski slopes following Richardson's accident. Emergency room
doctors had been lobbying for the requirement, and Richardson's death
added impetus to the plans, said Jean-Pascal Bernier, a spokesman for
the sports minister.
"By no means will a helmet save you 100
percent but it's definitely a step in the right direction to try to
prevent brain damage or something like that," said Valerie Powell of
the Canada Safety Council.
But the National Ski Areas Association, based in Lakewood, Colo., stops short of calling for legislation.
The
increase in helmet usage has not reduced the overall number of ski
fatalities; more than half of the people involved in fatal accidents
last season were wearing helmets at the time of the incident, according
to information gathered by the group.
And ski and
snowboarding-related deaths are relatively rare. During the 2004-2005
season, 45 fatalities occurred out of the 56.9 million
skier/snowboarder days reported for the season, according to NSAA.
Ski operators are among the most vocal opponents to mandated helmet use.
Alexis
Boyer of the Quebec Ski Areas Association said 90 percent of youngsters
under 12 already use helmets, but making that law would put operators
in the position of having to police their guests, many of whom come
from outside the province and country and may not be aware of the
requirements.
Still, people tend to change their behavior as a result of high-profile deaths.
Andrea
Fereshteh, 29, a writer at Duke University, said she started wearing a
helmet after the ski-related deaths of Sonny Bono and Michael Kennedy.
Both crashed into trees.
"It just became much more publicized about the need for helmets," she said.
Richardson's
death is likely to hit home for skiers because she was on a beginner
slope when she fell. Resort officials say she seemed fine immediately
afterward and even refused to see a doctor but that she began
complaining of a headache about an hour later and was rushed to
hospital.
Scott Kerschbaumer, a former ski instructor who has
never worn a helmet, considered Bono's and Kennedy's skiing deaths to
be the result of high-speed, somewhat reckless behavior.
Richardson shows "that the most serious of injuries and even death can result from the most innocuous of falls while skiing."
Kerschbaumer
said he hadn't wanted to wear a helmet because of vanity and comfort,
but will now purchase one for himself and his 6-year-old son.
As
a beginner skier, Latoicha Phillips Givens, 35, an attorney in Atlanta,
thought she was safe skiing without one. She said she certainly is
going to wear one now.
But Bill Douglass, 37, a social media strategist in New York City, said he doesn't want to see people overreact.
"I
think wearing a helmet when skiing is going too far," he said. "Better
to encourage people to focus on smarter safety measures like taking
classes, learning how to stop properly, that kind of thing."
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