Summer in the Pacific Northwest means longer days, warmer weather and more time spent outdoors. For trauma doctors at Harborview Medical Center, it also marks the start of a busy season of injuries, many of them preventable.
“We want people to be able to enjoy summer. We want people to be able to enjoy World Cup and all the activities that happen around it in our beautiful city, but we want to make sure that people pay attention, stay safe and just apply common sense,” said Dr. Ali Ravanpay, a UW Medicine neurosurgeon.
Riders on e-scooter and bicycles forgo helmets, putting themselves in danger. Children and adults dive into waters of uncertain depth. Toddlers open upper-story windows and lean too far. Ravanpay and a colleague surgeon, Dr. Robert Bonow, say many of the serious injuries they treat each summer happen in a split second, and might have been avoided by people taking simple safety precautions.
“The good news is that most of these injuries are recoverable and patients can do really well,” Bonow said.
Doctors say the goal is not to discourage people from enjoying the sunshine, but to be mindful of safety while pursuing activities.
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