Hoag Hospital’s Project Wipeout^® hits the beach to protect against neck and spinal cord injuries

Most people go to the beach expecting a relaxing day sun tanning and swimming in the ocean. But what they don’t realize is that routine beach activities such as body boarding, skim boarding, diving into waves, surfing and jumping off piers and rock jetties can lead to serious neck and spinal cord injuries.

These accidents take only a split second to happen, yet the physical damage often lasts a lifetime in the form of paralysis. Each year, Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian treats dozens of swimmers for neck and spinal cord injuries.

Most beach accidents can be prevented, and it is the goal of Hoag Hospital’s Project Wipeout to teach beach safety to the community — especially those most at risk, children and young people between the ages of 16 and 30.

Project Wipeout community education efforts are lead by Project Wipeout Director Kris Okamoto, R.N., CNRN.

School Involvement

Hoag’s Project Wipeout teaching packet is available free of charge to schools and non-profit community organizations. The packet includes a Wipeout Beach Safety Video and a sample copy of the Wipeout Beach Safety Brochure, Activity Book and Coloring Book, which can be used in conjunction with the video. Hoag Hospital representatives and Orange County Lifeguards are available upon request to give Wipeout Beach Safety presentations to your class or group. 

The Project Wipeout Video is seen by thousands of elementary, junior high and high school kids every year. The video is considered mandatory viewing by trainees in Orange County junior lifeguard programs, and is being used throughout the U.S. and as far away as England and Australia.

Lifeguard Seminar

Lifeguards are typically the first person at the scene of a beach accident, and victims with a suspected neck or spinal cord injury present a serious challenge to the rescuer. Administering proper stabilization techniques is vital in order to prevent further injury, and can even make a difference between life and death. For the last 25 years, Hoag Hospital has sponsored a Project Wipeout Lifeguard Seminar. It provides updated information on lifesaving techniques and equipment, first responder assessment and management guidelines, and issues such as water quality, potentially dangerous marine life and other topics of particular concern to lifeguards.

The 28th Annual Lifeguard Seminar will take place on July 11, 2007, with more than 400 lifeguards, paramedics, physicians and nurses expected to attend.

Community & Sporting Events

Project Wipeout has a strong presence in the community. Educational booths are set up at various community events such as health fairs, public safety events and large events like the Orange County Fair, reaching thousands of people of all ages every year with its beach safety message.

Project Wipeout is just one of a broad range of community benefit programs provided by Hoag Hospital. Hoag’s comprehensive neuro services program places special emphasis on advanced diagnostic and therapeutic techniques for the treatment of brain tumors, vascular lesions, stroke and rehabilitation as well as epilepsy and pain management. Hoag’s interdisciplinary neuro care team is trained in the latest treatment techniques such as endovascular neurosurgery, stereotactic radiosurgery and stereotactic radiotherapy.

For more information about Hoag Hospital’s Project Wipeout Program, please call Kris Okamoto at 949/764-5501.

Neck and Spinal Cord Injury Information

Some common injuries that occur at the beach include sunburn, cuts, abrasions, burns from fire pits, and fractured or dislocated shoulders, wrists and ankles. Surfers are cut by their surfboards, skim boarders break their wrists and ankles when their boards stick to the sand and body surfers and boogie boarders injure their shoulders when thrown into the sand by waves. These injuries can be easily treated and the victim will likely experience a full recovery.

But neck and spinal cord injuries are a different story. While much less frequent, these injuries are permanent and sometimes fatal. Most neck and spinal cord injuries are caused by the tremendous strength of the ocean’s waves forcing your neck and spine into harmful, unnatural positions.

These injuries can occur in a variety of ways. When your body tumbles in the waves, gets thrown by the waves to the ocean floor or when your head spears into the sand, your head can be forced down onto your shoulders, pushed forward into your chest or pushed backward further than it can naturally extend.

The spinal or vertebral column is made up of irregularly shaped bones, or vertebrae, soft spongy discs, which act as shock absorbers for the spinal column, nerve tissue called the spinal cord which runs through the center of the vertebrae, and supporting soft tissue including muscles and ligaments. The vertebrae support the muscles and protect the spinal cord. The spinal cord needs this protection since the cord itself is only the consistency of pasta. The extent of damage from an injury varies depending on the degree and type of force that is exerted on the spine and how it impacts the spinal cord.

If the trauma is minor or moderate, it may only cause strained muscles or ligaments, or fractures that will eventually heal with treatment. A misalignment of the spinal column could result in pinching of the spinal cord accompanied by temporary paralysis. The victim may regain mobility as the pinching subsides, but it could mean a long and painful road to recovery.

When the trauma is severe, the vertebrae and discs between the vertebral bones can be dislocated or even shattered. This can put significant pressure on the cord, or even slice it in two. Similarly, ligaments that support the spine can tear allowing the spine’s alignment to shift, again putting pressure on or cutting through the spinal cord.

Once this type of spinal damage has occurred, there is little that can be done medically to repair it. The result is severe pain, paralysis of the arms and/or legs, inability to breathe without a ventilator, or even death.