14-05-2025
Ascension Sacred Heart Bay gives free helmets to prevent injuries
PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WMBB) – The month of May is National Trauma Awareness Month, and Ascension Sacred Heart Bay is giving away a free tool that can help prevent serious head injuries.
Over the next few weekends, the hospital will be handing out free bicycle helmets at the Panama City Farmers Market.
Roughly 250 helmets will be distributed to people of all ages.
In 2024, the Ascension Sacred Heart Bay Trauma Center treated 70 patients involved in bicycle accidents.
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Those involved in those accidents accounted for 5% of total trauma deaths last year.
Medical experts say that wearing a helmet can truly be a matter of life and death in certain situations.
'Patients wearing helmets tend to not have these massive head injuries that we see,' Ascension Sacred Heart Bay Trauma Program Director Molly Frost said. 'It can mean them having major deficits and lifelong trauma that they have to live with, or walking out of here same day, discharged, going home to their families. So it can really mean a big difference.'
So far this year, the hospital has already treated 14 patients involved in bicycle accidents.
You can grab your free helmet at the Panama City Farmers Market on Saturday, May 17th, or Saturday, May 31st, anytime between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m.
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