To the Editor:
I disagree with Louis Odette's letter to the editor ("Safety at What Cost?" Jan. 4) in which he presents the required use of helmets during PE at the skiway as an infringement of personal liberty. I was saddened when a rope swing was removed by the school to protect students, I was frustrated when I was told by the state that at 20 I wasn't mature enough to drink. But I see a big difference between policing my personal activities, and reasonable safety requirements during a school-sanctioned event.
The College has a legal right to limit itself from the liability involved with providing students the chance to learn to ski. There are a myriad of ways in which risk is mitigated every day at Dartmouth, many of which go unnoticed. Dorms have smoke alarms, DOC buses have seatbelts and the pool must have a lifeguard on duty before one can go in the water. Similarly, personal protective equipment is a part of everyday life at the school. No one can pass a chemistry lab without wearing one's safety goggles. Ski patrollers put on gloves before helping someone who is bleeding. All of these things happen because the risk, both personal and legal, of not doing so far outweighs the infringements upon personal liberty.
I was a ski patroller for four years at Dartmouth, and am now a full time EMT. There is no doubt in my mind that helmets save lives and prevent injury. If you get hit hard enough in the head, you die. While skiing, one can reach speeds upwards of 30 miles per hour. Imagine what it would be like to hit firm snow at that speed. A skier can still be injured while wearing a helmet, but it gives that person a fighting chance at the speeds normally encountered while skiing.
In sports with similar risk levels, all participants wear helmets. We require students learning these sports to wear helmets not only because of the risk during the class, but because it makes sense to teach them to use helmets when they are on their own. The time to teach people that helmets are a part of skiing is when they are new to the sport. I have seen people die from head injuries, I have seen lives ruined by them. I urge you to think about everything that you can do with an intact brain, and to wear a helmet regardless of if anyone requires it of you.
