How to help your friends after a head injury

[Cclaxattack30]

I know a lot of guys probably had this happen, and i just had it happen today.

Youre riding with a buddy and he goes down HARD on his head, he seems like hes okay, or maybe he doesnt. Heres a decent list of things to check for, and signs of a concussion or other head injury.

Immediate inspection :

• Unconsciousness
• talk of being tired, wanting to sleep.
• Woozy or Dizzyness
• Irritation, hostility, confusion or bewilderment
• Memory loss
• bleeding or obviouus head injury, this is kind of a case by case issue, but things like large bumps, immediate bruising, anytihng along those lines.
• Nausea

Okay, one thing a lot of people do when their friend gets wrecked is freak out over the bleeding. CHILL. Bleeding really is not an issue compared to a stage three concussion or skull fracture. Unless its like a cut across the jugular, ignore the blood and try to assess any other injuries.

Okay, now, with unconsciousness, there isnt much you can do but make sure they are comfortable when they wake up (i.e tee shirt under their head as a pillow) but you need to get medical assistance, ask anyone near you if theyre a doctor if youre street, call an ambulance, things like that.

If the person is woozy, dizzy, irritable, hostile, confused or very bewildered, its most likely a concussion. Try to calm them down, and again medical assistance. Make sure the person doesnt get back on a bike and keep them calm.

Also, lets say the person really seems fine, and maybe five minutes later they ask something like "hey guys where are we going?" or "where did we just leave?" Its memory loss, sit them down and ask them questions like these

• What day is it?
• Whos the president?
• What did you eat for breakfast/lunch/dinner?

If they can answer these questions ask them if they remember falling. if they say no, get medical help, if they say yes, then stay where you are for 15 minutes and just talk to them. If they seem like theyre asking the same questions again and again its a head injury. Today my friend got a concussion and asked us three times why he wasnt riding his bike and he was riding mine. Its honestly scary when someone has memory loss like that but you need to remain calm to make sure your buddy is okay.

Now, if your friend is obviously going through a head injury/neck injury, and theyre wearing a helmet, LEAVE IT ON. DONT LET THEM TAKE IT OFF. Keep their head still, and make sure you wait until help gets there to do anything.

Other things to do to check for a concussion are besides the questions above, check their pupils, this may be hard to do but if you have a way of doing so its a good test. also make sure the person can move and feel every part of their body.

and guys last of all, no matter where you are, say even if youre maybe trespassing or in an area youre not supposed to be in, its way more important you get help than you not get a fine or grounded.

Edit//

Thanks you I like easterns for pointing out that you DO NOT WANT TO LET THEM SLEEP. If soon after they crash they are talking about sleep, being tired, wanting to sleep, DONT LET THEM. they need to stay awake and if they dont they could go into a coma. Thank you easterns!


Other things to look at:

• airway,
• breathing,
• circulation

.
These are primary assessments of any fall/injury.
Also, if in the US, don't forget the emergency response system (911), or be afraid to utilize it.

Thanks for adding that Trimix!

Another thing, stabilization of the neck and head are very important. If the person is on their side or any other position NOT on their back, you want to keep their head, neck, and spine all aligned, perhaps with a pair of shoes, and get them on their back. Its very important that the alignment not be displaced because that could cause life threatening and life altering injuries.

Thanks for that Vexal!

[norcalbyker]

awesome A+ mad rep for going out of your way to post something as important as this.

[Cclaxattack30]

Thanks a lot man. Its just scary when your friend goes down like mine did today. My moms a paramedic so she made me learn all this stuff since she knows a lot of kids ride without helmets. I just really want this information to be easily accessible for other riders who may end up in the same situation.

[pandora95]

awesome your just 6 months too late
up in november i remember going to the trails
went down the roll-in(theres like 6 sets of jumps, etc.)then rememeber waking up not knowing what happend!
i woke up with like 6 people i dont even know saying "dont move", thats some scary shit.
i look around and theres the ambulance
To this day i dont even rememeber wrecking, all i remember is going down the roll in, and waking up on the last jump.
so i asked my best friend who was there and saw everything he said" dude i freaked out, i thought you were joking, on the last table you tried bailing off like 8-10 ft in the air and landed straight on your head( i had my helemt). i walked over to you and touched you because you were laying face down, and you went into a seizure, and your mouth started foaming, i screamed help!, i thought you were dead for a long time, i teared up actually, then you started waking up and passing out like 5 times."

Thats what he said what happend, again i dont remember nothing, honestly its scary not rememebering how you wrecked.
i wish he wouldve read this b4 my wreck, and sorry for this long story, im just a lil buzzed right now.

[Arch Enemy]

really helpful guide, would come in handy

[gttour2]

kid went down hard at the skatepark today. face to quarter i like decent speed... i didnt say anything because i didn't know him, and he seemed okay, but he was walking into walls and shit...great advice though.. i'm just afraid of it happening to me, and noone telling me to stay up

[ChinnyBKR]

I really hope I will never have to use this... good guide though.

[skari4]

you will get sooo much rep for doing this...

My friend faceplanted a month ago. Didn't brake anything but was all swollen up for 2 weeks or so, he left a pretty big puddle of blood. Good to know this since head injury's can happen sometimes in this sport. Also this should be sticky'd!

[Cclaxattack30]

I'm glad this is so helpful, i really want everyone to see it so they know what to do if theyre even in my situation.

[i like easterns]

yeah good thread i think it needs to be stickied but you forgot to mention not to let them go to sleep when i get hurt that is what i want to do and i happened to my friend about 2 years ago and he went to sleep while he had a concussion and if we didnt wake him up he would go into coma but this was a real good thread