Spinal injuries: how to be a smart first responder at an accident scene to help without causing further harm

Mirror concertgoers in Hong Kong watched the first aid response after a fallen screen injured at least two dancers; would you know what to do – and not to do?

Keep victims calm and still, experts say, and prevent them moving their neck and head; only trained people should move a spinal injury victim

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Emergency staff attend to a dancer who suffered a spinal injury when a giant screen fell on him at a Mirror concert in Hong Kong. Spinal injury victims require special handling.

Published: 7:15am, 10 Aug 2022

Thousands of Hong Kong concertgoers watched in horror last month as a giant video screen fell on stage during a performance by popular boy band Mirror, injuring at least two dancers.

Mo Li Kai-yin, 27, who took the brunt of the fall, suffered a brain haemorrhage and fracture of the fourth vertebrae in his neck, according to sources. He underwent two major operations at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Yau Ma Tei. He could be left paralysed from the neck down.

Social media exploded with finger pointing over who should take responsibility for the incident at the Hong Kong Coliseum in Kowloon. An investigation into the accident is ongoing.

It also drew attention to the actions of those first on the scene.

Chow Hung-tsan is a Hong Kong doctor specialising in orthopaedics and traumatology. Photo: Asia Medical Specialists

If a person has been in an accident and spinal damage is suspected, seeking help by calling 999 – the city’s emergency telephone number – is the first rule of first aid, says Chow Hung-tsan, a Hong Kong doctor specialising in orthopaedics and traumatology.