The Matric's have just celebrated the official end of their academic year, and with exams around the corner, many students took to the chance to enjoy one last celebration as a High School Student. Once such incident landed a young man in CBMH Trauma and Emergency Centre, following sustaining a fall off of a popular party bus.
The young man reports having taken up residence on the top level of the bus, and celebrating (in style) the end of the Matric year with his fellow class mates. During the bus ride he was struck by a branch of tree and knocked off the top level of the bus. Fortunately the patient had the good sense to immediate roll out of the road, and was attended to by an off duty paramedic driving behind the bus. He was then taken to a local fire station, where paramedics attended to his injuries and stabilized a suspected wrist fracture. |
Further intervention by the paramedics included pain management, and the rapid transportation of the patient to the CBMH Trauma & Emergency Center for further management and assessment. On arrival at the ER the patient was still in good spirits, as indicated by the picture bellow.
Safety and injury prevention:
An Article from the Journal Of Biomechanics entitled "Prediction of upper extremity impact during falls on the outstretched arm" makes use of a mathematical model to help understand the association of wrist injuries with falls, and predicts that falls greater than 0.6m carry significant risk for wrist fractures. Considering that injuries of this nature require a small amount of force, our patient was extremely lucky to have sustained an isolated fracture. With respect to moving vehicles, it is always advisable to be seated and secured in place by means of an appropriate restraining mechanism. The rules and regulations one receives and agrees to prior to the journey should be strongly adhered to and respected, as they have been put in place for your own safety. It is advisable to report any unsafe actions, as it could your jeopardise your safety, or that of a fellow passenger. |
We wish our party going Matric patient all the best for the upcoming exams, and a speedy recover.
An Injury and Prevention Awareness Project brought to you by Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital Trauma & Emergency Centre.