THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE RESOLUTION

INTRODUCED BY STEVENSON, BRIGGS, KORTZ, BAKER, CALTAGIRONE, CLYMER, COHEN, DiGIROLAMO, J. EVANS, EVERETT, FLECK, GEIST, GEORGE, GINGRICH, GOODMAN, GRELL, GROVE, HARHAI, HENNESSEY, HESS, HUTCHINSON, KAVULICH, KIRKLAND, KNOWLES, LONGIETTI, MAHONEY, MAJOR, MANN, MARSICO, McGEEHAN, MILLARD, MOUL, MURT, MUSTIO, NEUMAN, M. O'BRIEN, QUINN, REICHLEY, ROCK, ROSS, SANTONI, SONNEY, STABACK, STERN, SWANGER, VEREB, VULAKOVICH, WATSON, WHITE, PEIFER, DEASY, HICKERNELL, PICKETT, O'NEILL AND SCAVELLO, MARCH 2, 2011

INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35, MARCH 2, 2011  

A RESOLUTION

Designating the month of March 2011 as "Brain Injury Awareness

Month" in Pennsylvania.

WHEREAS, Brain injury refers to the death or injury of brain

cells and the disruption of neural pathways resulting in changes

in the way a person thinks, feels and acts; and

WHEREAS, Acquired brain injury is an injury to the brain

secondary to trauma, stroke, postsurgical complications,

aneurysm, high fever, infection, near drowning, near

suffocation, near electrocution, poisoning and other conditions

which interfere with delivery of blood or oxygen to the brain;

and

WHEREAS, There are approximately 10 million Americans living

with acquired brain injury, including stroke; and

WHEREAS, Brain injury due to trauma may be caused by a direct

blow to the head or being shaken violently and may be caused by

falls, motor vehicle crashes, bicycle accidents, sports and

recreation injuries, shaken baby syndrome, gunshot wounds and

assaults; and

WHEREAS, The signs and symptoms of traumatic brain injury can

be subtle and may not appear until days or weeks after the

injury or may even be missed; and

WHEREAS, Mild traumatic brain injury is often underdiagnosed

or misdiagnosed, with symptoms not always immediately apparent;

and

WHEREAS, Traumatic brain injury is the leading cause of

disability and death from birth 40 years of age; and

WHEREAS, The cost of treating, rehabilitating and caring for

the victims of traumatic brain injury in the United States is

approximately $30 billion each year; and

WHEREAS, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

estimate that 25% to 87% of inmates have a history of traumatic

brain injury; and

WHEREAS, A study found that 20% of the juvenile justice

population has been unconscious for 20 minutes or more due to a

traumatic brain injury; and

WHEREAS, It is estimated that there are from 50,000 to

125,000 mild traumatic brain injuries (i.e., concussions)

resulting from sports and recreation accidents in Pennsylvania

every year; and

WHEREAS, Nationally, children and youth 5 to 18 years of age

accounted for 2.4 million sports-related emergency visits for

traumatic brain injury annually; and

WHEREAS, Seventy-five percent of all brain injuries are

concussions from trauma, affecting more than 47,000

Pennsylvanians; and

WHEREAS, More than 130,000 Pennsylvanians are living with a

long-term disability resulting from traumatic brain injury; and

WHEREAS, More than 50,000 Pennsylvanians are treated and

released from emergency rooms for traumatic brain injury

annually; and

WHEREAS, More than 32,000 Pennsylvania children under 21

years of age have a medical history that includes a

hospitalization for traumatic brain injury; and

WHEREAS, Brain injury is the signature injury of those

military personnel serving in Iraq and Afghanistan; and

WHEREAS, This Commonwealth has a number of the leading

research centers for brain injury, including the Penn Center for

Brain Injury and Repair at the University of Pennsylvania, the

Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute, the Brain Trauma

Research Center at the University of Pittsburgh and the Center

for Injury Research and Prevention at the Children's Hospital of

Philadelphia; and

WHEREAS, Three organizations in this Commonwealth

specifically devoted to brain injury include the Brain Injury

Association of Pennsylvania, Inc., the Acquired Brain Injury

Network of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Brain Injury

Coalition, and two organizations with a strong focus on brain

injury include the Disability Rights Network of Pennsylvania and

the Pennsylvania Association of Rehabilitation Facilities; and

WHEREAS, The Commonwealth has agencies with a specific focus

on brain injury, including the Department of Health Traumatic

Brain Injury Advisory Board; and

WHEREAS, The Commonwealth has several government programs

that administer specialized brain injury rehabilitation and

community support programs, including the Department of Health

Head Injury Program and the Office of Long Term Living CommCare

Waiver program; and

WHEREAS, The best approach to the silent epidemic of brain

injury is to promote the awareness, prevention and treatment of

brain injuries; and

WHEREAS, Brain injury prevention and access to necessary

treatment and services can be promoted through community

education and a public awareness campaign; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives designate the

month of March 2011 as "Brain Injury Awareness Month" in

Pennsylvania; and be it further

RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to

the Brain Injury Association of Pennsylvania, Inc., 950 Walnut

Bottom Road, Suite 15-229, Carlisle, PA 17015; to the Disability

Rights Network of Pennsylvania, 1414 North Cameron Street, Suite

C, Harrisburg, PA 17103; to the Acquired Brain Injury Network of

Pennsylvania, 2275 Glenview Drive, Lansdale, PA 19446 and to the

Pennsylvania Association of Rehabilitation Facilities, 2400 Park

Drive, Harrisburg, PA 17110.