Proclamation for
Brain Injury Awareness Month
Whereas, of the 1.4 million individuals who sustain a traumatic brain injury (TBI) each year in the United States 50,000 die; 235,000 are hospitalized and 1.1 million are treated and released from an emergency department; and
Whereas, among children ages 0 to 14 years, TBI results in an estimated 2,685 deaths, 37,000 hospitalizations and 435,000 emergency visits annually; and
Whereas, the leading causes of TBI are falls (28%); motor vehicle-traffic crashes (20%); struck by/against events (19%); and assaults (11%); and
Whereas, a concussion is a brain injury and considered a serious injury to the brain and multiple concussions can lead to lifelong disability and death; and
Whereas, death due to falls in older Nebraskans aged 65 and over were higher than the national rates for both males and females. And the average cost of an ER visit for this group was $6,568 and the residual, or late effects of a TBI were $23,706 per individual; and
Whereas, the CDC estimates at least 3.17 million Americans currently have a long-term or lifelong need for help to perform activities of daily living as a result of a TBI and the annual estimated cost to society for medical care and lost wages exceeds $60 billion; and
Whereas, each year in Nebraska an average of 1,100 people die or are hospitalized for the treatment of a brain injury; and
Whereas, Nebraska has become a Center of Excellence and a leader in TBI rehabilitation; and
Whereas, the mission of the Brain Injury Association is to provide help, hope and healing by being the voice of brain injury; and the Brain Injury Association of Nebraska is part of an elite nationwide network of Chartered State Affiliates, through the Brain Injury Association of America, that provides on-going programs, services, education and advocacy to individuals with brain injury, their family members and friends and the professionals who serve them; and
Whereas, through the National Brain Injury Information Center (NBIIC), the Brain Injury Association of Nebraska provides the residents of Nebraska with a toll-free telephone number that directly connects callers, regardless of where the call originates within the state, to local brain injury resources available in our state; and
Whereas, it will require additional federal, state and local resources to ensure active duty military and veterans be given full access to care - cognitive rehabilitation, vocational rehabilitation and home and community based treatment and the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs continue to ensure our service members are properly screened and are given proper treatment; and
Whereas, all individuals with a brain injury be given and have prompt access to the full spectrum of brain injury treatment, rehabilitation and disease management.
Whereas, the designation of a National Brain Injury Awareness Month will work toward enhancing public awareness of traumatic brain injury and increase the recognition of the life-altering impact traumatic brain injury may have both on Americans living with the resultant disability and on their families .
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Dave Heineman, Governor of the State of Nebraska, DO HEREBY PROCLAIM the month of March, as
BRAIN INJURY AWARENESS MONTH
in Nebraska, and I do hereby urge all citizens to take due note of the observance.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand, and cause the Great Seal of the State of Nebraska to be affixed this Tenth day of March, in the year of our Lord Two Thousand Ten.
