Toxins: Air bags have been used to reduce the mortality associated with motor vehicle accidents since the mid-1970s. However, these safety devices can also cause injury. Fractures, chemical burns, cardiovascular and ophthalmologic trauma, soft tissue injuries and death have been widely reported. Inhalation injuries related to the release of toxic compounds have rarely been reported. Literature review supports the potential role of Sodium Azide, a highly toxic compound and the main constituent in air bag gas generants, as the toxin causing injury.

 

Use of air bags will continue to increase as these safety devices are more widely installed in automobiles. The potential for air bag associated injuries must be considered in any patient presenting to the emergency department following a motor vehicle accident. Inhalational injury, including chemical pneumonitis from sodium azide exposure, should be included in the differential diagnosis of patients presenting with pulmonary densities on chest radiography following deployment of an air bag.

 

Source: ORIGINAL RESEARCH 2006 CAEP/ACMU Scientific Abstracts / Presented at ICEM 2006 June 3–7 ‘06, Halifax, NS / Caudle J, Hawkes R, Brison R. Department of Emergency Medicine, Kingston, Ont., Canada

 

   

 

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Proper use of air bags:

• Air bags are designed to be used in combination with a seat belt. Always wear your seat belt.

·         Keep your safety belt properly buckled. All but a very few of those killed by air bags were either unbuckled or improperly belted.

 

 

·         Never place a rear-facing child safety seat in the front seat.

·         Keep at least 10 inches between your breastbone and the air bag cover in the steering wheel or passenger-side dashboard.

·         Children age 12 and under should always ride properly restrained in the back seat.

Source:  WI DOT http://www.dot.state.wi.us/safety/vehicle/airbag/use.htm

                                 

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Disabling or removing air bags:

Most safety experts think that most people would be better off if they left their air bags alone. Soon a new generation of air bags will become available, which use the latest technology to calibrate air bag deployment.

 

Disabling

A comprehensive strategy has been developed to preserve the benefits of air bags while minimizing the risks. Starting in 1998, the federal government allowed certain car owners to purchase an on-off switch for their air bags. Auto dealers and service outlets install the switches. Only people who fit into the following categories are eligible:

• Those who cannot avoid placing rear-facing infant seats in the front seat
• Those who cannot adjust their driving position to keep back at least 10 inches from the steering wheel
• Those who cannot avoid situations, such as car pools, that require a child age 12 or under to ride in the front seat
• Those who have a medical condition that places them at some specific risk

 

Removing

You should not remove an airbag. It's against the law.  If you remove, change or tamper with an airbag, you can be subject to the Wisconsin Defective Air Bag Law (2001 Wisconsin Act 28). Any person who unlawfully removes or tampers with an airbag can be subject to a fine of not more than $5,000 or imprisonment for not more than one year in a county jail or both.

Source:  WI DOT http://www.dot.state.wi.us/safety/vehicle/airbag/disable.htm