The speakers were Jasper E Shealy, PhD, widely published ski researcher, professor and past director of the Human Performance Lab at the Rochester Institute for Technology, and current Head of the Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Department, and Dr. Brian Hunt, BC Neurosurgeon and Committee Head of the BC Brain Injury Association s Committee on Concussion. Minor concussions are very hard to diagnose and often go unreported and undetected. Concussion is often only diagnosed if severe. Accumulated small concussions can have cumulative effects on brain function and personality. Anything worn in sport that will reduce the number of small and medium blows to the head is beneficial.
Helmets have to be designed and fitted appropriately to work.
Helmets will protect the head in a collision up to approximately 25 kph. In case of a direct hit with an object at normal speeds, helmets will not save heads. Young children have heads that are relatively larger and heavier than adults, and those wearing inappropriately sized helmets are at risk for neck and back injury. Dr. Shealy is not against helmet use, but is making the point that helmet use will probably not affect injury statistics in skiing, he added that legislating their use would not go with the profile of the sport. There is some evidence that wearing helmets gives people the feeling of being invincible, and then they adopt higher level risk taking behavior.