Childrens Hospital of Pittsburgh Deploys Hard Head Patrol To Educate and Reward Kids for Wearing Bicycle Helmets This Summer

Hard Head Patrol rewards kids wearing helmets and offers free helmets to those who arent.

PITTSBURGH  May 3, 2006  Childrens Hospital of Pittsburgh today launched its Hard Head Patrol  a summer initiative aimed at increasing the number of children wearing helmets while riding anything with wheels, including a bicycle, scooter or skateboard.

Childrens representatives wearing bright red buttons that read Hard Head Patrol will fan out across southwestern Pennsylvania between May and August in search of children on bicycles, scooters and skateboards. Children wearing helmets will receive a coupon for a free meal at Wendys. Children who arent wearing a helmet will receive a certificate to be fitted for a free helmet at a Childrens neighborhood location on select days during the summer. Childrens representatives have volunteered to identify kids in their own neighborhoods throughout the summer.

The program is sponsored by Kohls as part of the ongoing Kohls Cares for Kids  program, which supports childrens health and educational opportunities.

We partnered with Kohls to create the Hard Head Patrol in response to a troubling trend in the number of children injured in bicycle and similar accidents who werent wearing helmets, said Barbara A. Gaines, MD, director of the Benedum Pediatric Trauma Program at Childrens. Research shows that wearing a helmet reduces the risk of brain injury in a bike accident by 88 percent, so we know that wearing a helmet can prevent a severe head injury and potentially save your childs life.

Each summer, thousands of children pass through Childrens Emergency Department with injuries sustained riding bicycles, scooters, skateboards and roller skates. In 2005, 139 children suffered serious bicycle-related injuries requiring admission to the hospital. Even more troubling is that fewer Childrens patients admitted with bicycle-related injuries are wearing helmets. Helmet use by Childrens patients decreased from 26 percent in 2000 to 20 percent in 2005.

Head injuries account for up to 80 percent of bicycle-related fatalities. Last year, only one in five children injured on a bicycle and admitted to Childrens wore a helmet, Dr. Gaines said.

Kohls is committed to playing an active role in promoting childrens health and educational opportunities in communities throughout Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and the United States, said Gary Wingert, vice president/district manager for Kohls Department Stores. Were proud to partner with Childrens on this worthwhile effort to increase helmet use by kids this summer.

Peter Hughes and his daughter, Claire, of Highland Park, learned of the importance of helmets firsthand. In 2001, Claire, now a high school junior, wasnt wearing a helmet when she fell off her scooter, suffering a blood clot that required brain surgery and a stay in the intensive care unit. She has since fully recovered, but the experience led her father to become an outspoken advocate for helmet use.

Not wearing a helmet nearly cost my daughter her life. It took a very scary situation for us to realize the importance of wearing a helmet, Mr. Hughes said. My hope in sharing our story and spreading the word about the Hard Head Patrol is that other parents will make sure their child wears a helmet at all times and wont have to go through what we did.

Childrens will hold nine Hard Head helmet fittings this summer. For a complete list of fitting times, dates and locations, or for more information on bicycle safety, please visit or call Childrens Injury Prevention program at 412-692-8229 or Community Education program at 412-692-7105.