| WARE — A group of employees from Baystate Mary Lane Hospital, who also happen to be avid cyclists, spent the afternoon Aug. 5 making area children a little safer. Hospital President Joan Sullivan, joined by Dr. Joseph Lellman, Dr. Richard Gerstein, physical therapist Peter Ouellette, and registered nurse Shair Frigon properly fitted 114 area children with free bike helmets in the hospital courtyard.The hospital received the helmets through a grant from the Mass. Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, to assist in reducing the number of bicycle-, skateboard-, and rollerblade-related fatalities and injuries on roadways. The hospital was among 157 not-for-profit organizations throughout the Commonwealth to participate in this project, which issued a total of 14,490 bike helmets.
“There are many benefits to wearing a bike helmet,” noted Lellman, an orthopedic surgeon at Baystate Mary Lane. “Most helmets are brightly colored so drivers can see you better and will take you more seriously. A helmet also provides protection from weather, including the sun. But the main reason to wear a helmet is to protect your brain from the peak energy of a sharp impact. Proper fit is the key to assuring your children are actually going to be protected by their bike helmets. If helmets are too loose, they will not protect their heads properly, and if the straps are too tight, they won’t wear them because they are uncomfortable.”
Lellman, who has been involved in competitive road biking and cyclocross racing since 1993, added that “it’s wonderful to be part of a hospital that has a passion for providing outstanding health care to families and their children in our community, and that also has so many employees with an interest in cycling.” |
