PREVENTION
Prevention of injury is always more effective than treatment, and this is especially true in SCI. The hallmark of prevention is safety education beginning in early childhood. Use of safe equipment is the second tenet of prevention, and nowhere has this been more effective than in the use of infant and child auto restraints and adult lap and shoulder belts.
This practice has also caused lap belt injuries, however, including SCIs, which are more common in children than in adults. Other prevention relating to motor vehicles is substance abuse education and laws relating to driving while impaired. Pedestrian safety is promoted almost exclusively through parent and child education.Prevention of sports-related SCIs has improved because of education, rules changes noted previously (such as no spearing in football, no checking from behind in ice hockey), better coaching, and better conditioning of players.
The ThinkFirst National Injury Prevention Foundation promotes safety education. “ThinkFirst programs educate young people about their personal vulnerability and the importance of making safe choices. The message is: You can have a fun-filled, exciting life, without hurting yourself if you ‘ThinkFirst’ ” (www.thinkfirst.org). There are separate programs for teens and children, which promote injury prevention through talks and publications.