kgdykes@watbun.UUCP (07/30/86)
a little sensationalism for the fire... THE CERICOCRANIUM AND THE AVIATOR'S PROTECTIVE HELMET by CDR E.J.Colangelo, NC, USN, Naval Safety Center, Norfolk, Va. The Hangman's Noose Analogy The inferior edge of the helmet, when visualized as part of the continuous circle completed by the nape strap and the chin strap, forms a loop that can be likened to a hangman's noose. The analogy might be further extended to include the lesions made about the neck by straps or the edge of the helmet, paralleling the abrasions and contusions that might be associated with a rope having encircled the same structures. When the knot is situated at the side of the head (subaural), such a hangman's noose produces fractures of the base of the skull, tending to extend bi-temporally through the basis- phenoid When the knot is situated anteriorly and beneath the chin (submental), the hangman's noose causes a fracture dislocation at the axis. Characteristically the posterior arch is fractured and, interestingly enough, the odontoid process is not involved... - Ken Dykes {ihnp4,decvax,allegra,utzoo}!watmath!watbun!kgdykes