PRINTER'S NO. 3262
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No.
718
Session of
2020
INTRODUCED BY PICKETT, BARRAR, BIZZARRO, BURNS, CONKLIN,
SCHLEGEL CULVER, DeLUCA, ECKER, EVERETT, FREEMAN, GAINEY,
GREINER, HICKERNELL, HILL-EVANS, KIM, KINSEY, KORTZ,
LONGIETTI, MACKENZIE, MILLARD, MURT, NEILSON, OWLETT, PYLE,
READSHAW, RYAN, SCHLOSSBERG, SCHMITT, SONNEY, STAATS, THOMAS,
WHEELAND, YOUNGBLOOD AND WARREN, FEBRUARY 4, 2020
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, FEBRUARY 4, 2020
A RESOLUTION
Designating the month of March 2020 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 (ABI) is an injury to the
brain secondary to trauma, stroke, aneurysms, postsurgical
complications or certain acquired disease processes; and
WHEREAS, It is estimated that more than 3.5 million children
and adults sustain an ABI each year; and
WHEREAS, More than 13.5 million Americans live with ABI,
including stroke; and
WHEREAS, Traumatic brain injury (TBI), a subset of ABI, is an
insult to the brain caused by a direct blow to the head, the
head hitting an object or the head being shaken violently; and
WHEREAS, Approximately 2.8 million children and adults
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sustain TBIs in the United States each year; and
WHEREAS, Each year, 2.5 million people are treated in
emergency departments for TBIs and 288,000 individuals are
hospitalized for TBIs; and
WHEREAS, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
provides that the estimated economic cost of TBIs in 2010,
including direct and indirect medical costs, was approximately
$76.5 billion; and
WHEREAS, The CDC shares that TBIs are a major cause of death
and disability in the United States, contributing to
approximately 30% of all injury deaths; and
WHEREAS, Approximately 5.3 million Americans live with TBI-
related disabilities; and
WHEREAS, Every day, 153 individuals in the United States die
from TBI-related injuries, and each year 56,800 individuals in
the United States die from TBI; and
WHEREAS, The Brain Injury Association of Pennsylvania reports
the following statistics relating to brain injuries in
Pennsylvania:
(1) 529,200 individuals are living with brain injury;
(2) 2,078 individuals die from brain injuries each year;
(3) 18,788 individuals are hospitalized each year after
brain injury;
(4) 86,240 individuals are seen in the emergency room
following brain injury each year;
(5) 25,975 children suffer brain injuries each year; and
(6) 8,612 individuals sustain long-term or lifelong
disabilities from brain injury each year;
and
WHEREAS, This Commonwealth has a number of leading research
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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, Other organizations in this Commonwealth with a
strong focus on brain injury include the Brain Injury
Association of Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Brain Injury
Coalition, Disability Rights Pennsylvania and the Rehabilitation
and Community Providers Association; and
WHEREAS, The Traumatic Brain Injury Advisory Board within the
Department of Health is also committed to expanding public
knowledge regarding TBI as well as increasing coordination and
integration within existing service delivery systems; and
WHEREAS, Additional programs within this Commonwealth that
administer specialized brain injury rehabilitation and community
support include the Head Injury Program and the CommCare Waiver,
which over the next three years is transitioning to the
Community HealthChoices program; and
WHEREAS, Pennsylvania's BrainSTEPS Program, currently funded
by the Department of Health and the Department of Education,
provides assistance to students who have sustained an ABI and
provides consultation through the students' school districts
until graduation; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives designate the
month of March 2020 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
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Bottom Road, Suite 15-229, Carlisle, PA 17015, the
Rehabilitation and Community Providers Association, 777 East
Park Drive, Suite 300, Harrisburg, PA 17111 and the Pennsylvania
Athletic Trainers' Society, Inc., PO Box 2164, Boothwyn, PA
19061.
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