Dr. Juan Antonio Mendoza Breton, medical director of the Traumatology Hospital “Dr. Victorio de la Fuente Narváez”, indicated that these types of accidents occur more frequently in the young population, between 30 and 39 years of age.
The Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) called on the population to take precautions during the holiday season due to the increase in automobile and motorcycle accidents, mainly caused by driving at high speed, tired, sleepless and under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Dr. Juan Antonio Mendoza Breton, medical director of the Traumatology Hospital “Dr. Victorio de la Fuente Narváez“, informed that in the last five years in Mexico City there has been an increase of 35 to 50 percent of accidents of this type during this season, since most people go to parties, meetings or trips with family and friends while using a car or motorcycle.
For this reason, the IMSS medical director invited the public to avoid ingesting any type of substance while driving any type of motor vehicle or bicycle, and if they do, to assign someone else to drive. In addition to using the necessary safety measures while driving, both for the driver and passengers.
He pointed out that when driving a car, all passengers should wear seat belts, and minors should not be carried in the passenger seat, especially if they do not wear seat belts. In the back of the car, passengers should be properly seated, avoid getting up and use special baby seats.
He added that in the case of motorcycles or bicycles, helmets, special suits, knee and elbow pads should be used, as these are factors that would allow less injuries in case of an accident or otherwise prevent it from happening.
Mendoza Breton indicated that this type of accidents occur more frequently in young people, between 30 and 39 years old, who are of productive age and have their own means of transportation to move around. However, there have been cases of minors, 15 or 16 years old, who use vehicles such as motorcycles or bicycles and have suffered an incident.
He informed that the Traumatology Hospital receives polytraumatized patients who come with one or multiple injuries such as cranioencephalic trauma, fractures at the level of long bones such as the humerus, femur, tibia; or injuries with thoracic trauma at the level of the chest or abdomen, many of these caused by being thrown off if they are using a motorcycle and collide with a car.
“There are also patients with ankle fractures, distal radius (wrist) fractures, clavicle fractures and those exposed fractures that when that part of the bone is broken, it comes out of the skin and comes into contact with the environment, which can lead to a greater risk of infection or vascular injury that compromises the limb,” he added.
He explained that the Traumatology Hospital in Magdalena de las Salinas attends an average of 500 patients a day in the emergency room and during this season more than 50 percent are associated firstly with hip fractures in older adults, secondly with automobile accidents and thirdly with burns caused by hot liquids and the use of fireworks.
Dr. Juan Antonio Mendoza explained that when an alcoholic beverage is ingested, the body absorbs the alcohol at the gastrointestinal level to later reach the bloodstream and the nervous system, which first generates a feeling of euphoria but then makes the person lethargic.
“This conditions us to have some kind of relaxation, sleepiness, alterations in our perception by not distinguishing the distances of objects, not noticing if a passerby is passing by or if the traffic light has changed color. All this will condition us to have car accidents with greater risk”, he said.
The medical director of the Traumatology Hospital added that by associating the use of this substance with the use of a car, motorcycle or even a bicycle, we will lose our sense of sensitivity to what is going on around us. This, in turn, will generate visual, olfactory and motor alterations, which will make it take time to respond to an event, that is to say, to react.
He referred that in a car accident it has been seen that movements must be fast and in seconds and, if the person is lethargic due to the consumption of this type of substances, the organism will take much longer to respond and therefore an accident will occur.
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