TBIs result from a variety of accidents, and they are a leading cause of injury-related death and disability.
The Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) is coordinating with the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force in making Wednesday, March 4, 2020 National Brain Injury Awareness Day. It’s just one part of the annual public awareness campaign observed by government agencies and safety advocates alike each March since 1993 as “Brain Injury Awareness Month.”
Goals of March’s Brain Injury Awareness Campaign
The campaign has two purposes: first, educating the general public about the incidence of traumatic brain injury and the needs of traumatic brain injury (TBI) victims and their loved ones. Many people are unaware of the long-term needs and challenges facing not only the accident victim who has suffered a permanent brain injury, but those facing their family members and friends as well.
Secondly, Brain Injury Awareness Month is an advocacy outreach working towards lessening the stigma associated with brain injury victims and assisting TBI victims in finding both public and private avenues of support that exist to help the victims and their loved ones.
For more on traumatic brain injuries sustained by accident victims in Indiana and Illinois, read our earlier discussions:
- Dealing with Traumatic Brain Injuries after Serious Accident in Indiana or Illinois
- Brain Injury Awareness Day: Suffering After a Traumatic Brain Injury Extends Past the Accident Victim.
What is a TBI or ABI?
An acquired brain injury (ABI) is any brain injury not caused by hereditary, congenital, degenerative, or birth trauma causes. A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a type of ABI that results when the brain sustains a trauma caused by an external force of some kind.
No one knows how many people are permanently harmed by traumatic brain injuries in this country, because not everyone will seek immediate medical care after they have been hurt. For instance, teenage football players are notorious for ignoring symptoms of TBI in order to stay in the game. See, “Student Athletes Hiding Concussions to Keep Playing the Game .”
Typical causes of ABI include:
- Electric Shock
- Infectious Disease
- Lightning Strike
- Near Drowning
- Oxygen Deprivation (Hypoxia/Anoxia)
- Stroke
- Seizure Disorder
- Substance Abuse/Overdose
- Toxic Exposure
- Tumor.
The leading causes of TBI are:
- Falls (47.90%);
- Struck By/Against Object (17.10%);
- Motor Vehicle Accidents (13.20%);
- Other Traumatic Events (13.50%); and
- Assaults (8.30%).
For more on the variety of accidents that can result in TBIs, read:
- Brain Injuries in Winter Sport Accidents: Suffering TBI on the Slopes
- Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Risk in Motorcycle Accidents
- Playground Dangers in Indiana and Illinois: The Risks Facing Kids on Playgrounds
- Tracy Morgan Case: The TBI Victim’s Long, Hard Fight for Justice.
Shocking Brain Injury Realities for Accident Victims and Their Families
All sorts of accidents and events can result in a permanent brain injury, from car crashes or motorcycle accidents to falls on the job or at home, or victims being struck by an object while at work. Statistics reveal that 137 people die each day in this country from the consequences of a traumatic brain injury. It is estimated that over 5,300,000 Americans today must cope with a permanent TBI-related injury as a life-long disability.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), traumatic brain injury is a leading cause of injury-related death and disability in the United States. From 2006 to 2014, the number of TBI-related emergency room visits, hospitalizations, and deaths jumped by 53%.
From BIAUSA, we know the following:
- Every 9 seconds, someone in the United States sustains a brain injury.
- One of every 60 people in the U.S. lives with a TBI-related disability.
- Each year, at least 2,500,000 people sustain a traumatic brain injury (TBI).
- Each year, 2,200,000 people are treated for TBI in Emergency Departments and Trauma Centers; of these victims seeking Emergency Care, 280,000 are hospitalized; and 50,000 die.
March Brain Injury Awareness Campaigns in Indiana
The Brain Injury Association of Indiana is the first charter chapter of the national Brain Injury Association of America. Its Brain Injury Awareness Month events can be found on the Indiana chapter’s online calendar.
March Brain Injury Awareness Campaigns in Illinois
The Brain Injury Association of Illinois is the only statewide organization in Illinois that helps those suffering from Acquired Brain Injury as well as their families and the health care professionals who treat them. Illinois’ March events (also listed on their online calendar) include Legislative Advocacy Day with Illinois State Legislators on March 18, 2020, as well as participating in National Brain Injury Awareness Day with a campaign effort to get people to contact Illinois Senators Richard Durbin and Tammy Duckworth on March 4th to ask for increased support and advocacy for Illinois residents impacted by brain injuries.
Once again, we support these efforts in our part of the country:
- March 2017: Brain Injury Awareness Month
- March is Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Awareness Month
- March is Brain Injury Awareness Month: Take Every Hurt to the Head Seriously Because Severe Brain Injuries Are Not Easy to Spot.
Justice for Traumatic Brain Injury Accident Victims and their Families
Victims of motor vehicle accidents, defective products, negligent supervision at school or at work, as well as worksite injuries and more, often suffer blows to the head that result in a traumatic brain injury. For these accident victims and their families, there are long-term realities to be faced. These not only involve physical disabilities and psychological hurdles, but the financial needs that a TBI Victim will face in dealing with his or her injuries over their lifetimes.
Traumatic Brain Injuries require not only immediate medical care and treatment, but long-term rehabilitation and support. Accident victims who have suffered traumatic brain injuries as a result of another’s breach in their legal duty of care may have legal claims to assert for the past, present, and future care and treatment needs of the TBI Accident Victim.
For more, read: Traumatic Brain Injury Accidents: the Cost of Care and Treatment.
Both Illinois and Indiana have negligence and product liability laws in place to help accident victims dealing with the reality of a traumatic brain injury find justice. March is Brain Injury Awareness Month and we are proud to support the efforts to educate and inform the general public about TBI. Please be careful out there!
