New Study Examines Prevalence of Head Injuries Among Police Officers

Team Wendy Reacts to U.K. Study From University of Exeter

Alarmed, researchers are calling for more work to be done examining the link between police officers and head injuries.

This comes after a small, but revealing U.K. study concluded that 40% of police officers surveyed by a major university lost consciousness due to head injuries. Repeated blows to the head have been linked to memory loss, confusion, depression, aggression, anxiety and PTSD. It’s also been linked to CTE, an oft-discussed condition not diagnosed until after death. A loss of consciousness, as noted in the study, indicates an especially severe impact and underscores the dangers posed to incapacitated officers.

The study was conducted by the University of Exeter in England, commonly regarded as one of the top research universities in the world. The pilot study sampled 54 police officers from the same department. Of the 54 officers, nine of them were diagnosed with PTSD and 21 had mild or serious levels of depression.

Ultimately, roughly 40 percent were found to have lost consciousness because of head injuries. Meanwhile, about 12 percent of the general public suffered the same type of injury.

Notably, two-thirds of incidents occurred off the clock. But even with a third of injuries happening on the job, it raises questions about long-term effects on police officers. After all, this isn’t an injury that’s apparent, like a broken bone. Many symptoms appear “hidden.”

At Team Wendy, this is personal for us. We work to develop technologies which could prevent concussion, with hopes that one day these injuries will be all but eliminated.

Although suffering loss of consciousness as the result of a head impact may still be technically categorized as a “mild traumatic brain injury,” it certainly goes beyond a “sub-concussive” event, and even those are concerning for long term brain health. If you’re interested in police tactical helmets, know that the EXFIL® Ballistic, EXFIL® Ballistic SL, EXFIL® Carbon and EXFIL® SAR Tactical all exceed ACH blunt impact standards.

In fact, the EXFIL® SAR Tactical is worn by, among others, New York Task Force 1.

It's a responsibility we take seriously, and Team Wendy helmets undergo rigorous testing behind the scenes that customers often don’t get to see. For one, our engineers test impact responses of foams and other impact mitigating structures in order to improve the protective capabilities of our helmet liners across a range of impact velocities. We develop Zorbium® foams with varying responses and conduct impact and compression testing to analyze their stress-strain response independently. We also analyze the kinematic response of the full system – how the foams perform in our helmets.

That’s just one example. And we’ll make even more gains once we understand two things:

1. How are these officers getting hurt?
2. Where are these injuries happening within the brain?

Once we know “how” and “where,” even more innovation will take place. Additional context is needed and we’ll support endeavors like this study that gather it ethically.

Meanwhile, we continue to collaborate with experts from around the country to better understand traumatic brain injury and how the brain reacts to various impact types.

Our commitment is unwavering.

By Ron Szalkowski
Director of Product Development and Research Collaboration

Do you have a story about how protective headgear saved you in the field? We’d love to hear from you. Share your story with us by emailing info[at]teamwendy[dot]com.