As a following up to the article from the NY Times, "Head injuries: Looking for signs and acting quickly"
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/26/fashi ... ml?_r=1&em
It is worth reading over. Some points come out.
- Wearing a good helmet, that is well secured.
Helmets can come off in an impact, the fastening system and fit may determine if this happens or not. You want your helmet to stay on your head where it can do some good.
- People with serious head injury (epidural hematoma) may have a deceptive "lucid interval."
After a serious head impact, they may seem to be ok, may even try to convince you they are. They may have a brain hemorrhage and may enter into a coma in time. They may even more around quite a lot making things worse. I stomped around for 4 to 5 hours with an epidural hematoma after a bad lofting, convinced several bystanders I was ok before getting medical treatment in the ICU. Beyond that they can aggravate cervical trauma which could result in paralysis by moving. This may have happened to other kiteboarders in past accidents.
More about Epidural Hematoma (shallow brain hemorrhage) at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epidural_hematoma
Short version, have a head injury, think carefully about having it checked out. This applies more to bystanders than the kiter as he may well already "be off his head" but may not know it. False alarms possible, maybe, but for folks like Natasha Richardson and the Russian tourist, there was no effective response and they died as a result. Also, wear a GOOD WELL SECURED lid appropriate for kiteboarding.
p.s. - want to see what an Epidural Hematoma looks like? I elected not to embed this image up because
it is pretty intense. If you aren't worried about the consequences of a head impact, perhaps you should have a look at this. The dark red section is the area of injury. I've had one of these, a lesser version I think, a number of us have worldwide. It is a good thing to try to avoid.
http://www.neuropathologyweb.org/cha...ages4/4-1L.JPG