[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 72 (Tuesday, May 12, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1128-E1129]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           BICYCLE SAFETY AT VIRGINIA REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES L. OBERSTAR

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 12, 2009

  Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commend the Inpatient 
RehabCare team at the Virginia Regional Medical Center for their safety 
education and outreach to Minnesota's youth. In addition to their 
outstanding work at the Medical Center, the RehabCare team educates 
elementary school students throughout Virginia of the tremendous health 
risks associated with riding a bicycle without a helmet.
  They recognize the importance of educating our youth during their 
formative years--at the age when they are most receptive--of the 
possible life-altering brain injuries that could result from not 
wearing a helmet while riding a bicycle.
  In particular, Madam Speaker, I wish to laud the Inpatient RehabCare 
team in their most recent outreach to fourth grade students at 
Roosevelt Elementary School in Virginia.
  Each fourth grade class participated in a safety awareness session 
where they learned about the lasting consequences of brain injuries and 
the importance of wearing bicycle helmets.
  Students received real-life simulations of what their lives would be 
like with such brain injuries, demonstrating the difficulty of everyday 
tasks and making a lasting impression on the students on the importance 
of taking safety precautions when riding a bicycle.
  Such hands-on scenarios--combined with the team's helmet safety 
information and their direct experience with assisting patients who 
have suffered brain trauma--provided these elementary students with 
invaluable life lessons in bicycle safety and the severity of brain 
injuries.
  It is vital that we teach our children about the many benefits of 
active and healthy transportation and recreation through cycling; and 
safety education must go hand-in-hand with these lessons.
  The RehabCare team's effective outreach to children is noteworthy and 
ought to be replicated throughout the nation. Their work--and the work 
of similar groups in the United States--is deserving of our recognition 
and continued support.
  I thank the Virginia Medical Center's Inpatient RehabCare team for 
their inspiring leadership and dedicated work to instill in our 
children a lifetime of bicycle safety habits.

               [From the Mesabi Daily News, May 6, 2009]

                    Bike Safety Begins With a Helmet

                            (By Angie Riebe)

       Virginia--.Writing your name while twirling your foot is 
     not an easy feat. Nor is stacking playing cards in order if 
     you're wearing glasses with lenses blocked by pieces of tape. 
     And finding pencils, paper clips and rubber bands in a bowl 
     of uncooked rice with gloved hands without looking is a 
     downright laborious task.
       But permanently living with the effects of a brain injury 
     is much worse.
       Fourth graders at Roosevelt Elementary in Virginia learned 
     about the lasting consequences of brain injuries and the 
     importance of wearing bicycle helmets during a presentation 
     Wednesday at the school, led by members of the Inpatient 
     RehabCare team at the Virginia Regional Medical Center. The 
     students partook in several activities designed to simulate 
     bike-related brain injuries.
       ``We don't want to scare them, but we kind of want to scare 
     them''; just enough to motivate the use of helmets, said 
     Robin Aronen, Inpatient RehabCare program director.
       Karen Damberg, the rehab's community relations coordinator, 
     approached the school about holding the seminar as part of 
     the program's expanding community outreach initiative.
       The school's four fourth grade classes were chosen to 
     participate each in hour-long helmet safety awareness 
     sessions because ``that's the age where they start to think 
     wearing a helmet is not cool,'' said Roosevelt Principal 
     Willie Spelts.
       Dr. Winston Schandorf, medical director at the rehab 
     program, taught the kids about the brain and how injuries to 
     different parts can cause such things as loss of vision, 
     coordination and the sense of touch.
       Students then got a real-life taste of what it would be 
     like to live with such injuries.
       A loss of touch would mean difficulty ``buttoning your 
     pants'' and ``you wouldn't be able to feel a zipper toggle,'' 
     Damberg said to a group of fourth graders trying to find 
     small objects in containers of rice while wearing gloves.
       ``You wouldn't be able to feel the temperature of water. 
     Getting into the tub and shower would be difficult. You'd 
     have to make sure the water wasn't too hot because you 
     wouldn't know,'' she said, as the kids searched for a spoon, 
     pencil, plastic baggie and other things.
       Meanwhile, Aronen asked a group of youngsters to try 
     writing their names on paper while rotating their right legs 
     counter-clockwise. ``When you have a brain injury, things 
     slow down. This is how it would feel,'' she said as the 
     students struggled with the request.
       At a table nearby, Schandorf had students attempt to put in 
     order a deck of cards while wearing obstructed glasses. ``See 
     how difficult it would be,'' he said, noting that an injury 
     to the back of the head could cause vision problems.
       ``There's nothing you can do to correct it,'' said the 
     doctor. ``The best thing you can do is prevent it. Wear your 
     helmet all the time and tell someone if you fall and hit your 
     head.''
       ``It's important they learn at a young age to prevent brain 
     injuries,'' Aronen said. The rehab program works with 
     patients 18 and older who have suffered brain trauma.
       ``How many of you have been tempted to not put on a helmet 
     because you're only going a block?'' Schandorf asked, and a 
     number of kids raised their hands. ``That's bad news. You 
     should keep your helmet with your bike always to wear even 
     during short rides,'' he said.
       ``I learned when you fall you might lose your sight and 
     hearing and not be able to feel things that good,'' fourth 
     grader Kaitlin Knutson said after the activities. ``Even if 
     you don't have a helmet you should ask your mom and dad to 
     buy you one, like for Christmas or something. And if you fall 
     and hit your head you should tell somebody.''
       ``It wouldn't be fun to have a brain injury,'' said 9-year-
     old Ben Kalinowski.
       ``Finding objects in the rice was the most difficult 
     task,'' said classmate Mikayla Lutz. ``I learned we should 
     always wear a helmet. Some people don't think they're cool, 
     but you should always still wear one,'' she said. ``Some 
     (helmets) can be really cool,'' she added later during a 
     question and answer time.
       ``The kids have been asking great questions,'' Aronen said 
     after the last session.
       The fourth graders were given helmet safety information to 
     share with their parents, and the students will create 
     posters, based on what they learned Wednesday, for a contest. 
     The rehab program will award helmets next week to the top two 
     winning posters in each of the four classes during a follow-
     up presentation, and all of the kids will receive ``goodie 
     bags,'' Aronen said.
       Spelts said he was thankful for the rehab team's effort. 
     ``Anything we can do to help the kids is great,'' he said.

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