Emergency room doctors are seeing an alarming rise in the number of people – mostly teens and young adults — who suffer sometimes serious injuries when they send text messages while walking, driving, biking, skating or taking part in other activities.

“It’s tragic,” said Dr. Linda Lawrence, president of the “American College of Emergency Physicians”:http://www.emergencycareforyou.org/YourHealth/InjuryPrevention/Default.aspx?id=1240, who noted that her colleagues across the country are anecdotally reporting cases, “among teens and young adults, in particular, who are arriving in emergency departments with serious and sometimes fatal injuries because they were not paying attention while texting.”

The group offers these guidelines:

• Don’t text or use a cell phone while engaged in any physical activities that require sustained attention; such activities include walking, biking, boating, rollerblading or even intermittent-contact sports such as baseball, football or soccer.
• Never text or use a hand-held cell phone while driving or motorcycling, and use caution even with headsets.
• Avoid becoming distracted by rummaging through purses, backpacks or clothing by keeping cell phones and blackberries in easy-to-find locations, such as phone pockets or pouches.
• Ignore the call or message if it might interfere with concentration during critical activities that require attention. Better yet, turn off the device beforehand during times when incoming calls or messages might prove to be a dangerous or even simply embarrassing or annoying interference.
• Be mindful of the distraction and corresponding reflex-response delay that texting can cause, and don’t text in any environments in which excessive inattention can cause safety concerns, such as while sitting alone at night, waiting for a bus, or in a crowded area, where one could easily become a victim of a personal theft.