Brain Injury Awareness Day 2010 - Capitol Hill Podcast
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Click on the following link to hear The Brain Injury Awareness Day Podcast.
I recently attended Brain Injury Awareness Day on Capitol Hill, March 17th. The event was organized by Congressional Brain Injury Task Force and the Brain Injury Association of America. Congressman Bill Pascrell and Congressman Todd Platts are Co-Chairs of the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force. Congressman Pascrell’s office did an outstanding job in organizing this event that was attended by several nationally known physicians, athletes and politicians.
The primary focus of Brain Injury Awareness Day 2010 was sports-related brain injuries, including college and high school-level athletics. Over 1 million people suffer a sports-related concussion (a form of brain injury) every year. Once a person sustains a concussion, they are 4-6 times more likely to sustain a second concussion. There are multiple examples of athletes who have sustained a concussion during a game, appeared fine, sent back into the game only to sustain a severe brain injury as a result.
If you are a parent of a student athlete, it is important that you become aware of brain injury and its symptoms. Events such as Brain Injury Awareness Day help to raise awareness about such injuries and the treatment options available.
Approximately 1.7 million people in the United States sustain a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) every year. This number includes sports-related injuries, falls, auto accidents, and other traumas. On average, 52,000 deaths related to brain injury occur each year, and over 275,000 hospitalizations and 1.3 million other emergency room visits only related to brain injuries occur per year. These numbers do not include the countless undocumented brain injuries that take place annually.
The majority of people who suffer brain injury – even a mild injury – may not even know they have the injury. My personal goal is to become more active with the Brain Injury Association of Florida and the Brain Injury Association of America to help raise awareness and to help those who have sustained brain injuries.
I encourage you to read my recent blog post "A few facts on brain injury”, which covers information on signs and symptoms of brain injury and tips for families of people who have sustained a brain injury.
