- The ARC - California Edition -

Food for Preventive Thought

Helmets and In-Line Skating. There are now over 22,000,000 in-line skaters in the U.S., a number that is growing about 30% per year. According to a study that recently appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine, about 100,000 of these "risk takers" were injured severely enough during 1995 to require emergency medical care.

The researchers interviewed injured in- line skaters who had sought medical attention because of injuries to their wrists, elbows, knees, or heads, and compared them with skaters which had injuries to other parts of their bodies.

Of the individuals with the injuries of interest, the researchers reported they found that persons which did not wear safety gear were much more likely to be seriously injured - ten times more likely in the case of wrists and elbows.

Protective gear are available including wrist guards, knee and elbow pads and "in-line" helmets. This type of equipment has been shown to be effective in preventing in-line related injuries.

(Risk Factors for Injuries from In-Line Skating and the Effectiveness of Safety Gear; New England of Journal of Medicine, Volume 335, Number 22, November 28, 1996)

Les Mains Propres. Les grandes responsables de la prolifération des maladies infecteuses sont les mains. Les mains récoltent, véhiculent des germes. Et les mains contaminent. Seuls un lavage fréquent et un essuyage correct permettront d’éviter les infections.

Elémentaire me direz-vous !

Pourtant, une enquête du Professeur Ducel du Laboratoire d’hygiène hospitalière de Genève indique que seulement 52 % du personnel soignant appliqueraient les consignes en matière de lavage des mains. L’école est également mise sur la sellette.

En Belgique, il y a en moyenne 1,5 équipement sanitaire et 6 WC pour 100 élèves. Certaines écoles ne disposent même pas d’équipement hygiénique au sortir des toilettes. Comme les bonnes habitudes n’attendent pas le nombre des années, il ne serait pas superflu de répéter à nos bambins que l’on se lave les mains après avoir terminé un treavail, avant de passer à table et en sortant des toilettes !

(If you can read French, please send me an English translation.)