Grady Eye Specialist Works to Prevent Motor Vehicle Related Traumatic Eye Injuries

Cases at Atlanta's Grady Hospital show external rear-facing side view mirrors can cause serious eye injuries in motor vehicle crashes

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Grady Health System

Jul 19, 2019, 10:00 ET

ATLANTA, July 19, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Within a six-week period, Grady Memorial Hospital eye specialist Dr. Yousuf Khalifa witnessed an unusual set of traumatic eye injuries. Three patients, all riding with their windows down, suffered serious eye injuries when the glass in their exterior rear-facing side view mirrors shattered after being hit, sending shards of glass into their eyes.

"Side view mirrors are not made of shatter-proof glass, like the rest of the glass in motor vehicles, so when there's a crash or something hits them hard enough, they shatter," said Khalifa, Grady's chief of ophthalmology and associate professor of ophthalmology, Emory School of Medicine. "Working at Georgia's busiest Level 1 trauma center, we see a lot of eye injuries related to motor vehicle crashes, but these particular cases got me wondering if shattering side view mirrors were causing injuries on a large scale."

Khalifa details the cases in an article published July 18, 2019 in the Journal of the American Medical Association Ophthalmology (JAMA Ophthalmology). His goal is to get the attention of federal safety officials in an effort to make side view mirrors safer.

"I would like to see the same regulations apply to the glass in side view mirrors that apply to the other glass in motor vehicles. All of the patients I treated suffered extensive damage to their eyes – damage I think can and should be prevented," Khalifa said.

About Grady Health System

Grady Health System is one of the largest safety net health systems in the nation. Grady consists of the 953-bed Grady Memorial Hospital, six neighborhood health centers, Crestview Health & Rehabilitation Center, and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Hughes Spalding, which is operated as a Children's affiliate.

With its nationally acclaimed emergency services, Grady is Atlanta's premier Level I trauma center – the metro area's only nationally verified Level 1 center. Grady EMS serves as the 911 ambulance provider for the city of Atlanta, South Fulton County communities, and numerous counties across Georgia. It also operates the state's first Mobile Stroke Unit, taking cutting-edge pre-hospital care directly to patients. Grady's American Burn Association/American College of Surgeons verified Burn Center is one of only two in the state. And the Marcus Stroke and Neuroscience Center is a Joint Commission designated Advanced Comprehensive Stroke Center.

Other key services/distinctions include Grady's Regional Perinatal Center with its Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Georgia's first Cancer Center for Excellence, The Avon Comprehensive Breast Center, the Georgia Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center, and the Ponce de Leon Center - one of the top HIV/AIDS outpatient clinics in the country. Grady is one of an elite group of hospitals to earn the Baby-Friendly USA international recognition as a Baby-Friendly Designated birth facility. Grady has earned the prestigious Stage 7 on the HIMSS Analytics Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model - Georgia's first adult acute care hospital to earn the highest rating for improving patient care and safety through health information technology.

SOURCE Grady Health System