"A parent's worst nightmare is their child sustaining a severe traumatic brain injury because someone else made a very bad choice."

Quote from Lois York-Lewis - mother of a TBI Survivor

Local and national news and other media outlets are all abuzz when something horrible happens.  Often times they speak of "accidents or incidents" when referring to "unintentional injuries".  Although these incidents—such as car/semi crashes, falls, work-related injuries, playground accidents, bar fights, sports-related, and  so on—may be unforeseen, they are neither isolated nor arbitrary. More importantly, these events are both predictable and preventable. This inconvenient truth is why our organization has a longstanding commitment to unintentional injury prevention.

Human factors play a role in prevention, and in this case, refers to individual characteristics which influence behavior at work, rest, and play in a way which can affect health and safety. While none of this information is new, it must be part of the prevention equation.

A simple way to view human factors is to think about three aspects: Mind - Body - Spirit/Mood

MIND = The five factors that mostly influence state of mind are: Place, Time, Food, Past Impressions (including misconceptions), Associations, and Actions

BODY = How your body feels and reacts is indicative of how you will approach every moment of the day.  How do you respond when your body is not working like you want it to?

SPIRIT/MOOD = The essential difference between the two concepts is that spirit generally refers to a failure of will to control one’s longings or reactions to daily life, while mood (such as depression) is considered a medical condition or a failure of the body.

This about MIND + BODY + SPIRIT and what human factors affect your choices?

PREVENTION!

Don't learn the meaning by accident

Can you face the inconvenient truth? There is no other way to say it, traumatic brain injuries are predictable and preventable

Environmental factors play a role in prevention, and in this case, refers to characteristics which influence reactions and behaviors at work, rest, and play in a way which can affect health and safety. While none of this information is new as well, it too must be part of the prevention equation.

Environmental factors is to think about three aspects: WEATHER - PLACE/SURROUNDINGS - VISIBILITY

WEATHER =  Is it safe to be out and about? Wind, rain, ice, snow, even sun-rise and sun-set can be a factor

PLACE/SURROUNDINGS = Are you traveling an unfamiliar road, are you in a dark alley,  is the staircase free of obstructions?

VISIBILITY = Can you see what is around the corner?  Is the fog too dense to be out?  Is your view obstructed in anyway?

This about WEATHER - PLACE/SURROUNDINGS - VISIBILITY and what environmental factors affect your choices?