Bike Week busy for MUSC trauma

Many wounded motorcyclists sent to Charleston center for treatment

Bikers know Myrtle Beach Bike Week by the crowds and roaring street machines. Trauma surgeons at Medical University of South Carolina know Bike Week by the wounds.

As the only Level 1 trauma center in the Lowcountry, and one of only four in the state, MUSC handles some of the most severe motorcycle accidents.

"You know when Bike Week is, and you see more accidents," said Dr. Keith Borg, professor and research director of emergency medicine. "There are a lot of head injuries and injuries to extremities. We certainly see amputations, head injuries and people die."

The 68th annual Harley-Davidson Dealers Association Myrtle Beach Rally runs through Sunday. The total motorcycle accidents for the week as of Friday morning, the latest available report, was 92, with two fatalities, according to Horry County Emergency Management.

The Horry County Police Department has issued a total of 1,791 citations for offenses this week, with speeding constituting the vast majority of charges.

MUSC has to be ready for mass casualties, so extra staff is not recruited for events such as Bike Week. "We see motorcycle injuries in trauma year-round, certainly in the spring," Borg said.

South Carolina law does not require riders to wear a helmet unless they are age 21 or younger. Twenty-six states have similar laws with age restrictions ranging from 17 to 21. Twenty-one states require anyone on a motorcycle to wear helmets, and three states have no laws, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Richard "Roach" Mercer of Georgetown sat on a corner in Myrtle Beach and watched the bikers go by. "They're being stupid, revving up, acting like they're racing from red lights. That's what kills bikers," he said by telephone.

Mercer, a biker of 40 years, is the coastal area coordinator for ABATE, a motorcycle rights group. "If you go to the other states that have helmet laws and compare fatalities, the helmet does not do a good job saving lives in blunt-force trauma," he said.

Motorcycle fatalities have increased steadily in South Carolina. In 2005, 94 bikers died, about 70 percent of whom were not wearing helmets. Last year, 120 bikers were killed. The S.C. Department of Public Safety has not yet calculated what percentage of those were not wearing helmets.

As of Thursday, 36 motorcyclists were killed in the state. For the same period in 2007, that number was 28.

Alarmed by the rising numbers, the Motorcycle Safety Task Force was formed in March and is made up of law enforcement, highway safety groups and motorcycle industry leaders.

The ranks of licensed motorcycle drivers in the state has risen steadily, too. In May, motorcycle drivers in South Carolina totaled 167,244. That number, which includes licenses and beginner permits, rose by more than 2,000 since February 2008.

Borg said that although riders feel that it's their decision whether to wear a helmet, ultimately, that decision affects others.

"When you tell family they weren't wearing a helmet, they usually feel differently," he said.