Bike helmets could save $41 per child in hospital costs [healthcarefinancenews.com]

COLUMBUS, OH – As a way to bring awareness to an inexpensive way to prevent injuries and death to children, the Ohio Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (Ohio AAP) is sponsoring Bike Helmet Safety Awareness Week from May 7-11, 2012. The safety awareness week is part of the statewide public awareness campaign, Put a lid on it! Bike Helmet Safety Awareness, encouraging adults and children to wear helmets while riding bikes.

According to Sarah Denny, assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, a $10 bike helmet saves a healthcare system $41 per child.

“From 2002 to 2009 in Ohio, we looked at the total treatment charges for children ages 0-18 involving head injuries and bicycles. Emergency room visit charges alone were $14 million,” said Denny. “It was over $17 million for total hospitalization costs.”

In 2010, the number of people injured by not wearing a bike helmet was 51,000, and apart from the automobile, bicycles are tied to more childhood injuries than any other consumer product, including trampolines, ladders and swimming pools, said Denny.

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