PRINTER'S NO. 422
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE RESOLUTION
No.
38
Session of
2019
INTRODUCED BY SCHWANK, KILLION, BOSCOLA, BARTOLOTTA, STREET,
FONTANA, DINNIMAN, FARNESE, BREWSTER, YAW, BROWNE, FOLMER,
SANTARSIERO, COSTA, HUGHES, PHILLIPS-HILL, J. WARD, MENSCH,
AUMENT, TARTAGLIONE, BAKER AND BLAKE, MARCH 18, 2019
INTRODUCED AND ADOPTED, MARCH 18, 2019
A RESOLUTION
Designating the month of March 2019 as "Brain Injury Awareness
Month" in Pennsylvania.
WHEREAS, Brain injury involves the death or injury of brain
cells and the disruption of neural pathways, resulting in
changes in the way an individual thinks, feels and acts; and
WHEREAS, Acquired brain injury (ABI) is an injury to the
brain from trauma, stroke, aneurysms, postsurgical complications
and certain acquired disease processes; and
WHEREAS, Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a subclassification
of ABI caused by a direct blow to the head, the head hitting an
object or the head being shaken violently; and
WHEREAS, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
regards brain injury as a major cause of death and disability in
the United States, accounting for approximately 30% of all
injury-related deaths; and
WHEREAS, More than 3.5 million children and adults in the
United States sustain an ABI each year and more than 12 million
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live with an ABI; and
WHEREAS, An average of approximately 2.5 million children and
adults suffer TBIs in the United States each year, resulting in
approximately 2.2 million emergency department visits and
280,000 hospital admissions; and
WHEREAS, On average, 137 Americans die daily and 50,000
Americans die annually from TBI-related injuries; and
WHEREAS, An estimated 5.3 million Americans live with TBI-
related disabilities; and
WHEREAS, Annually in this Commonwealth:
(1) More than 86,000 individuals suffer a brain injury.
(2) More than 49,000 individuals require emergency room
treatment for a brain injury.
(3) More than 11,000 individuals are hospitalized for
brain injury.
(4) Approximately 8,600 individuals sustain long-term or
lifelong disabilities due to brain injury.
(5) Approximately 2,200 residents die from a brain
injury;
and
WHEREAS, More than 529,200 Pennsylvanians are living with
brain injury; and
WHEREAS, This Commonwealth has a number of 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, Other organizations in this Commonwealth with a
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strong focus on brain injury include the Brain Injury
Association of Pennsylvania, the Acquired Brain Injury Network
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 committed to expanding public knowledge
regarding TBI as well as improving coordination and integration
among 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 two years, will be transitioned to the
Community HealthChoices Program; and
WHEREAS, The BrainSTEPS Program, currently funded through the
Department of Health and the Department of Education, assists
students who have sustained an ABI and provides consultation
through the students' school districts until graduation;
therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the Senate designate the month of March 2019
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, 950 Walnut 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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