Brain Bucket campaign provides helmets to youth

BEMIDJI, Minn. - Sanford Bemidji's trauma team received a grant from the Sanford Health Foundation of Northern Minnesota and Knife River to address head injury and trauma due to inadequate head protection. The grant provides funding for winter sports helmets and a "Brain Bucket" educational campaign, specifically targeting kids.

Every winter Sanford Bemidji sees a high number of youth with head injuries. Most of these injuries are a direct result of inadequate head protection when youth are downhill skiing, cross country skiing, snowboarding or playing hockey.

"By educating our youth on the proper protection for their heads, or their Brain Buckets, we hope to reduce the number of serious head injuries that we see in the ER," said Bill Shuler, M.D., medical and trauma director for Sanford Bemidji. "Helmets can reduce head injuries by 30 to 50 percent and can be the difference between a major or minor injury." So far the campaign has awarded 80 free helmets to area youth through a weekly drawing and for members of the Bemidji Youth Hockey Association. Helmets will continue to be awarded every Friday until the end of April.

In addition to the helmet giveaway, youth can enter to win a snow sport package by posting a 30-second video to Instagram, Twitter or Facebook with the hashtag #BrainBucketBemidji, demonstrating why helmet safety is important. The deadline to enter the contest is April 30.

Other organizations providing donations to the campaign include Design Angler, Amity Graphics, Burton, Giro, Total Hockey and TheHouse.com.

To learn more about Brain Bucket, visit http://www.brainbucketbemidji.org

About Sanford Health

Sanford Health is an integrated health system headquartered in the Dakotas and is now the largest, rural, not-for-profit health care system in the nation with locations in 126 communities in nine states. In addition, Sanford Health is in the process of developing international clinics in Ghana, Mexico and China.

Sanford Health includes 43 hospitals, 140 clinic locations and 1,360 physicians in 81 specialty areas of medicine. With more than 26,000 employees, Sanford Health is the largest employer in North Dakota and South Dakota. The system is experiencing dynamic growth and development in conjunction with nearly $1 billion in gifts from philanthropist Denny Sanford. These gifts are making possible the implementation of several initiatives, including global children's clinics, multiple research centers and finding cures for type 1 diabetes and breast cancer. For more information, visit sanfordhealth.org.