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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION 164
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| 2 | WHEREAS, Brain injury is not an event or an outcome, but | ||||||
| 3 | the start of a misdiagnosed, misunderstood, and under-funded | ||||||
| 4 | neurological disease; individuals who sustain brain injuries | ||||||
| 5 | must have timely access to expert trauma care, specialized | ||||||
| 6 | rehabilitation, lifelong disease management, and | ||||||
| 7 | individualized services and support in order to live healthy, | ||||||
| 8 | independent, and satisfying lives; and
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| 9 | WHEREAS, 1.5 million Americans sustain a traumatic brain | ||||||
| 10 | injury (TBI) every year; among those who survive, 80,000 people | ||||||
| 11 | per year must learn to cope with lifelong losses of function; | ||||||
| 12 | the number of people with TBI who are not seen in an emergency | ||||||
| 13 | department or who receive no care is unknown; and
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| 14 | WHEREAS, The leading causes of traumatic brain injury are | ||||||
| 15 | falls, motor vehicle crashes, being struck by or against an | ||||||
| 16 | object, assaults, and blasts; many active-duty military | ||||||
| 17 | personnel in war zones suffer traumatic brain injuries; the | ||||||
| 18 | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that as | ||||||
| 19 | many as 3.9 million sports-related and recreation-related | ||||||
| 20 | concussions occur in the United States each year; the risks of | ||||||
| 21 | catastrophic injuries, or even death, are significant when a | ||||||
| 22 | concussion or head injury is not properly evaluated and | ||||||
| 23 | managed; and
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| 1 | WHEREAS, Concussions are a type of brain injury that can | ||||||
| 2 | range from mild to severe and can disrupt the way the brain | ||||||
| 3 | normally works; concussions occur with or without loss of | ||||||
| 4 | consciousness; a lack of proper diagnosis and management of | ||||||
| 5 | concussions may result in serious long-term consequences, | ||||||
| 6 | including coma or even death; signs and symptoms may be | ||||||
| 7 | noticeable immediately, or may take days or weeks before they | ||||||
| 8 | are present; and
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| 9 | WHEREAS, Anyone with signs of moderate or severe TBI should | ||||||
| 10 | receive medical attention as soon as possible; trained medical | ||||||
| 11 | personnel will work to stabilize an individual with TBI and | ||||||
| 12 | focus on preventing further injury; and
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| 13 | WHEREAS, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | ||||||
| 14 | estimates that at least 5.3 million Americans currently have a | ||||||
| 15 | long-term or lifelong need for help to perform daily activities | ||||||
| 16 | as a result of TBI; TBI can cause a wide range of functional | ||||||
| 17 | changes that affect thinking, sensation, language, and | ||||||
| 18 | emotions; TBI can also cause epilepsy and increase the risk for | ||||||
| 19 | conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, | ||||||
| 20 | and other brain disorders that become more prevalent with age; | ||||||
| 21 | therefore, be it
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| 22 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
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| 1 | NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
| 2 | we designate the months of March 2011 and March 2012 as Brain | ||||||
| 3 | Injury Awareness Month in the State of Illinois and urge the | ||||||
| 4 | citizens of this State to join in recognizing the importance of | ||||||
| 5 | prevention and early detection of brain injuries; and be it | ||||||
| 6 | further
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| 7 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 8 | presented to the Brain Injury Association of Illinois.
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