Regular readers of the injury prevention blog will know I have commented on a number of occasions regarding the need to (1) share our research findings, and (2) translate research into practice and policy. Whilst this is the ideal, I also realise that there are many obstacles to this being the actual, another topic […]
Category: Offbeat
How to Cite Social Media in Scholarly Writing
I have not posted anything for a week or so but came across this useful item for those who want to get it right when they get to the references section of a paper they are submitting to this or any other scholarly journal. It is timely because, increasingly, information is being used that comes […]
Proactive rather than ‘The Hindenburg’ response
I had a conversation recently with a colleague who is a tireless worker in the safety of pedestrians, and his comment regarding policy response resonated with me so much that I thought I would share it with you. He likened policy response to road safety to the Hindenburg Disaster of 1937 (see www.airships.net/hindenburge/disaster for more […]
Would you drive blindfolded?
I hope you said ‘no’ in response to that question! If you didn’t, maybe you shouldn’t be sharing the road with the rest of us sane people! To me, driving whilst distracted is just like driving blindfolded. In either scenario, you cannot and do not see the road in front, to the side, or behind […]
The festive season or the injury season?
I thought as my final blog for 2013 that I would ponder the question: the festive season or the injury season? I recall spending a Christmas Eve some 20 years ago in hospital as my then fiancée had to be treated for dreadful scalds on his stomach. Needless to say, despite the sweltering heat and ridiculously-high humidity, he […]
Beware evidence-based evangelists
A colleague recently sent me a link to this piece in JAMA by RS Braithwaite, MD, MS that cautions against placing too much weight on some ‘evidence based’ decisions. When the term became popular (was it really 20 years ago) I often referred to many of its more vocal proponents as evangelists. I still think […]
Public and political perception of risk: Injury prevention implications
Unfortunately in Australia in the last week, two men have died as a result of shark bites. The media response, which by no means is unique in these cases, has been overwhelming, with responses ranging from the call to kill the offending sharks (despite protestations of the family, for example see http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-01/search-for-shark-that-killed-bodyboarder-zac-young/5127228), and increasing the range of shark netting […]
Being king-hit: There is nothing “royal” about it
Following on from Monday’s blog re: glassing and mugging, today I would like to comment on another behaviour of concern for injury prevention: the king-hit. The king-hit has featured widely in recent Australian media, with newspaper coverage of the court trial of a young man accused of king-hitting a tourist in our nation’s capital emerging just four hours ago […]
Choking: Super scary when you are the victim
Today I am writing more of a sharing-scary-experience blog, and some of my findings after a quick stickybeak on the internet. Last night with my evening meal, I had corn as one of my 2-and-5 (for those outside Australia, a public health promotion encourages each Australian to eat two serves of fruit and five serves […]
Glassing and ‘mugging’: Sensational media or a huge problem for injury prevention?
Glassing – that is, assault with a glass implement – often involves an assailant smashing a glass into someone’s face, at which point the glass shatters and the victim is cut by the glass shards. In Australia, popular media has paid much attention to this issue, possibly in part due to the sensational nature of the […]