A study of emergency American football helmet removal techniques.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose was to compare head kinematics between the Eject Helmet Removal System and manual football helmet removal.


METHODS
This quasi-experimental study was conducted in a controlled laboratory setting. Thirty-two certified athletic trainers (sex, 19 male and 13 female; age, 33 ± 10 years; height, 175 ± 12 cm; mass, 86 ± 20 kg) removed a football helmet from a healthy model under 2 conditions: manual helmet removal and Eject system helmet removal. A 6-camera motion capture system recorded 3-dimensional head position. Our outcome measures consisted of the average angular velocity and acceleration of the head in each movement plane (sagittal, frontal, and transverse), the resultant angular velocity and acceleration, and total motion. Paired-samples t tests compared each variable across the 2 techniques.


RESULTS
Manual helmet removal elicited greater average angular velocity in the sagittal and transverse planes and greater resultant angular velocity compared with the Eject system. No differences were observed in average angular acceleration in any single plane of movement; however, the resultant angular acceleration was greater during manual helmet removal. The Eject Helmet Removal System induced greater total head motion.


CONCLUSIONS
Although the Eject system created more motion at the head, removing a helmet manually resulted in more sudden perturbations as identified by resultant velocity and acceleration of the head. The implications of these findings relate to the care of all cervical spine-injured patients in emergency medical settings, particularly in scenarios where helmet removal is necessary.
Athletic Training Education Program, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA. eswartz@unh.edu
Erik E
EE
Swartz
Jason P
JP
Mihalik
Laura C
LC
Decoster
Adam E
AE
Hernandez
D000328:Adult; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005538:Football / Q000293:injuries*; D019416:Head Movements; D006260:Head Protective Devices; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009040:Motion Pictures