Children’s Minnesota experts recently attended the Western Pediatric Trauma Conference virtually on July 14-16, 2021.
Dr. Nathaniel Kreykes, pediatric surgeon and trauma medical director at Children’s Minnesota, presented on Thursday, July 15, with Laura Plasencia, trauma services manager at Children’s Minnesota, as the moderator for this session. Over 400 people registered for the conference from a variety of roles – from emergency medical technicians to registered nurses, doctors and respiratory therapists.
The presentation
Dr. Kreykes presented on water-sports-related injuries. He presented cases of children injured during water-sporting activities, and spoke about rules and recommendations for personal watercrafts (PWC), waterskiing and tubing.
Find out more below.
Personal watercraft rules and recommendations:
- The age to operate a PWC varies by state, but in Minnesota, people must be at least 13 years old to operate a PWC.
- Wetsuits or neoprene bottoms are recommended over standard swim bottoms.
- Passenger-controlled kill switches may help decrease the risk of injury but are not yet installed on jet skis.
Waterskiing and tubing rules and recommendations:
- The risk of an injury increases when you tow more than one tube, so it’s recommended to only tow one tube at a time.
- Especially in kids, helmets can help provide protection against head injuries.
Western Pediatric Trauma Conference 2022
The 2022 Western Pediatric Trauma Conference will be held in July in Sonoma, California. Learn more on their website here.
