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Post-publication Peer Reviews to:
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![[Read P3R]](/icons/misc/sectionDOWN.gif){kind=icon}
Paintball is safe when played safely, just like any other sport.
definitely a problem
paintball is safer then many other sports
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Kevin L. Eng, attorney Captain SC Venom Paintball Team
Send letter to journal:
socalvenom{at}aol.com Kevin L. Eng
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In reviewing this, and many articles related to eye injuries as a result of a paintball striking a person's eye, it appears that most (if not all) of the victims of paintball eye injuries are due to the victim's own failure to use paintball equipment properly, whether it is an adult or child victim. It is unfair to condemn the paintball industry for what amounts to victim's failure to simply read the labels that are affixed on many paintball products. It is near impossible to cause an eye injury from paintball if a person is wearing proper goggle/eye protection and the paintball marker is properly maintained (i.e., not shooting at a velocity higher than allowed). For example, if a baseball player did not wear a helmet when batting, there is a likelihood that he could get struck in the head with a pitch and suffer a head injury. That is not baseball's fault. Similarly, if you ride a bicycle without a helmet and/or other protection, you can get injured because falling is a foreseeable and known risk. That is not the bicycle industry's fault. In paintball, the object of a paintball marker is to propel a paintball in order to mark an intended target. The risks are absolutely foreseeable that if you don't wear proper eye protection when playing with a paintball marker, you could potentially suffer an eye injury. It really demonstrates a lack of responsibility on the part of alleged victims when they fail to use proper precautions or take proper safety measures, get injured, then blame the paintball industry. It is equally irresponsible for medical (or legal) professionals to similarly blame the industry for injuries sustained by people who simply refused to take the time to read warning labels and learn proper paintball safety. While I do not agree with blaming the paintball industry for what I consider, self-inflicted injuries, there should be something done to ensure that only adults purchase paintball markers and paintball pellets. I do not believe this restriction should apply to other paintball related products, such as goggles, masks and apparel since such a restriction would not address the issue at hand. However, in my 15 years of paintball playing experience, I have not seen a situation where a paintball store sold a paintball marker to someone who was not the age of majority. This leads me to believe that the parents who purchase a paintball marker simply pay for it and give it to their children without any instruction or guidance whatsoever. This is another issue - parental responsibility. Parents who purchase paintball products for their children should be vigilant. As stated on most if not all paintball marker packages, paintball markers are not toys. Don't leave it with your child to play with unsupervised unless you have taken the time to properly instruct a child on the proper use of the marker and related safety equipment. This is simply irresponsible of a parent and it is they who should be punished for allowing such incident occur simply because they didn't take the time to learn and teach their kids how to safely operate a paintball marker. Kevin Eng Attorney at law Co-Captain - SC Venom Paintball Team Los Angeles, CA |
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Stephen D Kim, student high school student. 6 years playing experience
Send letter to journal:
sdkbizkitfan{at}yahoo.com Stephen D Kim
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as a member of the paintball community, i am obviously against any criticism that comes upon paintball. despite this, i do believe that there is more that can be done to insure safety awareness. when i first started playing, i played in an unorganized setting as well, and rarely with parental supervision. though we did play with full facial protection, looking back, i now see many opportunities where a serious eye injury could have occurred. now that there are more strict guidelines for paintball, i believe that serious injuries are much less likely to happen. in addition, having highly publicized tournaments with players labeled as "professional" ("" added for sake of argument) players gives more or less an example for the newer players to follow. all paintball needs is more time to develop. |
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kevin c geer, emergency medicine physician emergency medicine physicians
Send letter to journal:
Sl487momtc{at}aol.com kevin c geer
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I am an Emergency Medicine Physician who has been working in very busy emergency departments for almost 20 years. During that time I have not seen or even heard of any eye injuries from a paintball marker. My 2 sons and I have also been avid paintball players for the past 4 years and we have never seen or heard of any eye injuries. As a matter of fact the worst injury we have ever heard of (other then a few welts) was a sprained ankle. We have played at many different fields and at everyone safety is emphasized and re-emphasized on a regular basis even to veteran players. On the otherhand I have seen countless injuries from other sports especially football, skate boarding and in-line skating. These injuries include fracures (many of which required surgical repair) concussions, cervical spine fractures and even spinal chord injurires. I have reached the point in my career where I hate the start of the football season (high school and rec league) because of the number of injuries that occur the worst of which are the spinal chord injuries. Despite all these injuries, I never see any bad publicity about football. Accidents happen but many injuries can be prevented by playing safe and using the proper equipment. This is the point we should emphasize to everyone. Paintball players should not be singled out. |
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