Rollover

Last night there was a rollover accident outside of town where a family of five was traveling at three in the morning.  No one was wearing a seatbelt or in a carseat.  The parents were ejected out of the vehicle and the children were found in the car.   The parents died shortly after the accident.  The children were all injured with broken bones and multiple trauma but most likely will all survive. Unfortunately they are now all orphans.  This is a part of my job I do not like.

This is all to common an event in the Navajo Nation. We as physicians are partly to blame for not asking each and every time we see a family if they are using a carseat.  We supply every tribal member with a car seat when they leave the hospital. We get cooperation and help from the tribal police who will pull people over when they a child bouncing around in the car when they should be restrained.  Unfortunately some people feel it their right as citizens to refuse to wear seatbelts or use carseats.  I wonder where are the rights of the children who will now grow up without parents because of the carelessness of those they trusted.  Who will be there for their first date or their graduations?  This is really not a Navajo problem but a problem for us all.

The good thing is that the community comes together in events like this and relatives are quick to take the children in and support them. The "It takes a village to raise a child." is nowhere more true than in the Navajo Nation. For my part I will do what I can as a Pediatrician to make sure this does not happen again.