Prevention is better than cure

I remember with vivid detail the first time I ever played with matches. It was a long time ago but I remember. It feels like yesterday, when my mother came out of her room fuming at the sight of my creativity. I had tried to shoot rockets (light and throw match sticks) as I had seen in the movie the night before.

A note about my mother; she had this knack for beating with a precise flow, every syllable spoken accompanied with a swift blow to my bottom, hand, back; actually any where her hand or the swizzle stick landed. {{more}}”YOU MUST NOT PLAY WITH MATCH-ES YOU HEAR ME, DON’T PLAY WITH FIRE.” You check it, 14 of the very best; my eight-year-old voice bawling out certainly rivaled any prince of the opera.

Back then the punishment didn’t seem to fit the crime in my innocent but inquisitive mind ,but I couldn’t see what mummy saw; which was the two-bedroom board house, all our belongings and even me, burning, being destroyed….

When you look at it that way, one must admit that the punishment might have been “par for the course”.

So to everyone that is seeking to rationalize the soon to be seatbelt and helmet regulations, wondering why the big fuss and even more why the steep fines, I say, think again!

Just consider this excerpt from the USA’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke –

“A closed head injury is one that is usually caused by a rapid movement of the head during which the brain is bounced back and forth within the casing of the skull. Closed head injuries often result from motor vehicle accidents… and bicycle accidents. Closed head injuries usually result in more widespread damage to the brain and, therefore, cause more extensive neurological defect.

After an impact to the head, a person with a brain injury can experience a variety of symptoms but not necessarily all of the following symptoms. Sometimes, a brain-injured person may not even know anything is wrong, which is why traumatic brain injuries are also known as the “silent epidemic” and the “invisible injury.” Symptoms of a traumatic brain injury can include, but are not limited to:

• Spinal fluid (thin water-looking liquid) coming out of the ears or nose;

• Loss of consciousness, but loss of consciousness may not occur in some concussion cases;

• Dilated (the black center of the eye is large and does not get smaller in light) or unequal size of pupils;

• Vision changes (blurred vision or seeing double, not able to tolerate bright light, loss of eye movement, blindness);

• Dizziness, balance problems (Loss of equilibrium);

• Respiratory failure (not breathing);

• Coma (not alert and unable to respond to others) or sem- comatose state;

• Paralysis, difficulty moving body parts, weakness, poor coordination;

• Slow pulse;

• Slow breathing rate, with an increase in blood pressure;

• Vomiting;

• Lethargy (sluggish, sleepy, gets tired easily);

• Headache;

• Confusion;

• Ringing in the ears, changes in hearing ability, inability to hear;

• Difficulty with thinking skills (difficulty “thinking straight”, memory problems, poor judgment, poor attention span, slowed thought processing speed);

• Inappropriate emotional responses (irritability, easily frustrated, inappropriate crying or laughing);

• Difficulty speaking, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing;

• Body numbness or tingling; or Loss of bowel control or bladder control.”

Ok then, according to the new regulations a person can be fined up to $2,000 for a first offence and up to $5,000 for any subsequent breach. A guy said to me recently that the Government is just trying to make money off poor people, so to him and others I ask you a question.

Why do we need the law makers to tell us to take whatever perceived discomfort that buckling up causes to protect ourselves?

Why do we have to wait for the police to charge us before we stop our children from jumping up and down in the front seat of our vehicles?

Hey if seat beats and helmets can help to prevent some of those things noted by medical practitioners the world over and the stiff fines will get us to protect ourselves then so be it!

No offense, but that’s just AS I SEE IT!