Doctor talks traumatic injury prevention

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) - We are getting a critical reminder from the trauma team at one area hospital - to stay safe this summer and beyond.

Doctor Michael Lemon, the trauma medical director at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center, says they're preparing for a busy summer; a continuation of what they saw last year.

"Our trauma volumes went up last year," Lemon said. "We're preparing ourselves for trauma to be the same this year. And we started the year at about the same levels. And so we're expecting people to be out, to be recreating and we're ready for them to come in."

One of the reasons is COVID-19 restrictions are scaling back. But Lemon says there's one thing in particular that leads to the increase in cases.

"The biggest thing we find is when kids are out of school, people play. And playing is great, but it's also very dangerous," Lemon said.

There are some things you can do to make sure you don't end up needing a visit to the ER.

"The initial thing we suggest everybody do is wear your seatbelt when they drive to and from any type of recreation," Lemon said.

So far during the 100 deadliest days, at least 18 people have died on Idaho roads. At least seven were not wearing a seatbelt.

Another must is wearing that helmet.

"Helmet compliance, whether you're on a motorcycle, ATV, four-wheeler, helps prevent traumatic brain injury. We can fix a lot of things, but we can't fix your brain," Lemon said.

As the only burn center in the state, EIRMC sees a lot of burn patients. So if you're enjoying the great outdoors by camping, there are things you can do right away should someone get burned.

"The number one thing to do in any type of burn situation is stop the burning process," Lemon said "So get the child out of the fire, get the child away from the fire and tear off all of those clothes. Remove hot ash, anything that could contnue to be burning that patient."

The next thing is cleanliness.

"If we can, wash that area off," Lemon said. "We always hear about cold water. Cold water is great, if you can wash that off with cold water, but try to make it cold and clean water."

You then want to make sure to wrap the burn in something clean.

"Oftentimes people think they need to put an ointment on or something like that. We just want them to wrap it up in a clean, dry dressing," Lemon said.

You then need to get them to the doctor as fast as possible.