Each year, April is designated Sports Eye Safety Month, when the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) and its Save Our Sight Program rally to remind Ohioans about the importance of eye protection for children engaged in sports and recreational activities. As reported by the Ohio Department of Health, eye injuries are alarmingly common amongst the youth, with someone seeking emergency treatment for a sports-related eye injury in the U.S. about every 13 minutes. Remarkably, such injuries are frequently avoidable with the simple use of proper eye gear.
Ohio Department of Health Director Bruce Vanderhoff, MD, MBA, highlighted, "When kids know they’re protected from eye injuries, they can focus on learning — on the field and in the classroom." Notably, over half of the reported injuries involve children and can have serious repercussions, ranging from vision impairment to the complete loss of an eye. However, an impressive 90% of these accidents could be prevented by adopting appropriate protective eyewear.
To combat this issue, the ODH collaborates with the Ohio Ophthalmological Society to support the Superspecs program, an initiative offering free protective eyewear for various youth sports and school activities. This includes baseball and softball helmets with face masks, sports goggles for basketball and soccer, and prescription goggles for various physical endeavors. The program extends beyond the sports field, providing safety eyewear to students in career technical programs such as welding or auto repair.
