At a recent "Don't Thump Your Melon" helmet safety and head injury prevention program, children and adults learned the basics about wearing a fitted bicycle helmet.

To see how to properly fit a safety helment to prevent a head injury, click here.

At the Kohl's department store parking lot, 102 children and a few adults stepped up to receive a free bike helmet, then received a careful check for proper fit and maximum protection.

The Rapid City Regional Hospital program encourages children as well as adults to wear a helmet when biking, rollerblading, skateboarding or riding a scooter.

While South Dakota does not have helmet law requirements, the simple act of wearing a helmet may save a person's life or at least a trip through critical care, an expert says.

Rod Brandhagen, pain management supervisor at Regional Rehabilitation Institute, coordinates the "Don't Thump Your Melon" program. Through his work, he and the institute staff regularly treat patients who have received a bump on the head that has bruised the surface of the brain. They annually work with 20 to 50 children and adults who may have fallen head first onto the pavement, a car or even another bike.

"Even falling from a bicycle, you have potential for pretty severe damage," Brandhagen said.

Brandhagen said the safety program typically visits second-grade classrooms to talk about the brain, its fragility and how to protect it. They demonstrate this by using honeydew melons, one strapped into a helmet and the other without a helmet. Dropped from an equal height, the impact to the melons is immediate and graphic.

"We have construction workers, football players, firefighters, hockey players and baseball players who all wear helmets. If professionals care enough to wear a helmet, you should, too," he said.

The program sends home the message that if the children were able to lift the hard shell of their skull from their heads, the brain inside would have about the same consistency of scrambled eggs. A glutinous gel keeps the brain floating inside the head, preventing it from smacking into the skull wall when minor bumps, jumps and jostlings occur.

But hit the sidewalk or street in a head-long fall, and the surface will bruise and the brain will begin to swell. The hard surface of the skull doesn't allow much room for swelling, so doctors might have to remove a portion of the skull. If it isn't removed, blood circulation may be limited and brain tissue begins to die.

"We have had kids who have to relearn how to talk and walk," he said.

A variety of children of all ages and even adults come to the rehabilitation center with these types of injuries. "It isn't an isolated incident," Brandhagen said.

The Rapid City man said that while many of the bicycle injuries happen in a fall, they also happen in collisions with other bicyclists and even cars. A helmet may make a difference.

"If we can prevent even one of these accidents, we feel we've done our duty," Brandhagen said.

For classroom presentations, call 719-4527.

Contact Jomay Steen at 394-8418 or jomay.steen@rapidcityjournal.com