[Filed with Secretary of State May 26, 2015.]
ACR 48, Cooley. Brain Injury Awareness, Treatment, and Prevention Month.
This measure would designate the month of March 2015 and each year thereafter as Brain Injury Awareness, Treatment, and Prevention Month, and would encourage public officials and the citizens of California to observe the month with appropriate activities and programs to raise awareness about the symptoms of, treatments for, and ways of preventing, traumatic brain injuries.
WHEREAS, Each year, 2.5 million Americans sustain traumatic brain injuries; and
WHEREAS, A traumatic brain injury is a contributing factor in roughly one-third of all injury-related deaths in the United States; and
WHEREAS, Each year, 250,000 people in California sustain a traumatic brain injury; and
WHEREAS, These injuries are largely the result of falls, motor vehicle crashes, assaults, sporting-related injuries, or occupational injuries; and
WHEREAS, More than 5.3 million Americans are living with disabilities related to traumatic brain injury; and
WHEREAS, The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that as many as 3.8 million sports- and recreation-related concussions occur in the United States annually; and
WHEREAS, Significant national attention has been drawn to this issue due to the prominence and visibility of scholarship that has identified repeated concussions and brain injury as leading to negative long-term health outcomes; and
WHEREAS, Traumatic brain injury is the signature injury of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, presenting new challenges for members of the military and their families; and
WHEREAS, The Federal Traumatic Brain Injury Reauthorization Act of 2014 (Public Law 113-196) has provided new authority for the CDC to review brain injury management in children, and to identify ongoing and potential opportunities for research; and
WHEREAS, Research, treatment, and support help speed recovery from a traumatic brain injury; and
WHEREAS, The Brain Injury Association of California offers education and support to individuals with traumatic brain injury and their families to help those individuals integrate into the community and live as independently as possible; and
WHEREAS, The Brain Injury Association of California has designated March as Brain Injury Awareness Month to promote public awareness on the extent, causes, consequences, treatment, and prevention of traumatic brain injury, and to remind people with traumatic brain injuries and their families that they are not alone; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That the Legislature designates the month of March 2015, and each year thereafter, as Brain Injury Awareness, Treatment, and Prevention Month, and encourages public officials and the citizens of California to observe the month with appropriate activities and programs to raise awareness about the symptoms of, treatments for, and ways of preventing, traumatic brain injuries; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.
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