Organizations Backing Brain Injury Awareness Day 2017
More than 3.5 million adults and children suffer an acquired brain injury every year. Traumatic brain injury, a subset of ABI, affects at least 2.5 million children and adults annually in this country, with 280,000 TBI hospitalizations and 50,000 TBI deaths recorded annually.
The Brain Injury Association of America and allies are marking Brain Injury Awareness Day on March 22 with some events taking place on Capitol Hill with members of the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force, which is co-chaired by Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr., D-N.J., and Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Fla. They include a congressional briefing and a 5-7 p.m. reception celebrating Brain Injury Awareness Month in March 2017.
BIAA participates in the annual event by assisting with planning, exhibiting, and sponsoring the reception along with the National Association of State Head Injury Administrators and the National Disability Rights Network.
The theme of events and activities this year is Not Alone; the campaign is a way to educate the general public about brain injuries and the needs of people with brain injuries and their families. The campaign also lends itself to outreach within the brain injury community to de-stigmatize the injury, empower those who have survived, and promote the support that is available.
More than 3.5 million adults and children suffer an acquired brain injury every year -- that is, an injury to the brain that is not hereditary, congenital, degenerative, or induced by birth trauma. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is considered a subset of ABI and describes injuries caused by trauma to the brain from an external force, and TBIs affect at least 2.5 million children and adults annually in this country, with 280,000 TBI hospitalizations and 50,000 TBI deaths recorded annually.
Common causes of ABIs include electric shock, infectious diseases, lightning strike, near drowning, stroke, substance abuse, oxygen deprivation, and toxic exposure.