Home | School | Community | Move  | Work | Contact Us

Safety Tips 

The following safety tips, provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Brain Injury Association, may help reduce the chances that you or your children will have a traumatic brain injury.

• Wear a seatbelt every time you drive or ride in a car.
• Buckle your child into a child safety seat, booster seat, or seatbelt (depending on the child's age) every time the child rides in a car.
• Wear a helmet and make sure your children wear helmets when
• riding a bike or motorcycle;
• playing a contact sport such as football or ice hockey;
• using in-line skates or riding a skateboard;
• batting and running bases in baseball or softball;
• riding a horse;
• skiing or snowboarding.
• Keep firearms and bullets stored in a locked cabinet or safe when not in use.
• Avoid falls by
• using a step-stool with a grab bar to reach objects on high shelves;
• installing handrails on stairways;
• installing window guards to keep young children from falling out of open windows;
• using safety gates at the top and bottom of stairs when young children are around.
• Make sure the surface on your child's playground is made of shock-absorbing material (e.g., hardwood mulch, sand).

The following are common symptoms of concussion among adults:

• low-grade headaches or neck pain that won't go away
• having more trouble than usual with mental tasks (e.g., remembering, concentrating, making decisions)
• slowness in thinking, speaking, acting, or reading
• getting lost or easily confused
• feeling tired all the time, lacking energy or motivation
• changes in sleeping patterns (sleeping a lot more or having a hard time sleeping)
• feeling light-headed or dizzy, losing your balance
• increased sensitivity to sounds, light, or distractions
• blurred vision, eyes that tire easily
• loss of the sense of smell or taste
• ringing in the ears
• mood changes (e.g., feeling sad or angry for no reason)

Some symptoms that may appear in a child with a concussion include the following:

• listlessness or tiring easily
• irritability or crankiness
• changes in eating or sleeping patterns
• changes in the way the child plays
• changes in performance at school
• lack of interest in favorite toys or activities
• loss of new skills, such as toilet training
• loss of balance, unsteady walking

Tips for People with TBI

If you think you or your child may have a brain injury, see a doctor right away. The doctor will tell you what to do to help the healing process. But here are some general tips to aid in recovery:

• While healing, get lots of rest.
• Don't rush back into daily activities like work or school.
• Avoid doing anything that could cause another blow or jolt to the head.
• Ask your doctor when it's safe to drive a car, ride a bike, or use heavy equipment because your ability to react may be slower after a brain injury.
• Take only the drugs your doctor has approved, and don't drink alcohol until your doctor says it's OK.
• If you have a hard time remembering things, write them down.

If the brain injury was severe, the injured person may need therapy to learn skills that were lost, such as speaking, walking, or reading. Your doctor can help arrange rehabilitation services.

Who Is Affected?

Each year in the U.S., nearly 1.5 million cases of TBI are reported. Of those, about 50,000 die and another 80,000 suffer disabilities. Today, about 5.3 million people in this country live with a disability that was caused by a traumatic brain injury.

A TBI can be mild–where there is only a brief loss of consciousness (or none at all), and there are no major complications–or it can be severe. Severe TBIs are characterized by a loss of consciousness for days or weeks (called a coma) and bruises (contusions) or blood clots on the brain or damage to the brain's nerve fibers. While mild TBIs–called concussions–cause symptoms that go away in days or weeks, severe TBIs often cause permanent problems related to thinking, speaking, movement, or behavior.

People over 75 years old have the highest rate of TBI. About 191 out of every 100,000 people in that age group have a TBI each year; the most common cause is falls. People age 15-24 have the next highest rate of TBI, with 145 out of every 100,000 persons sustaining a TBI in a given year. The most common cause of TBI for that age group is transportation. Among children under 5 years old, 82 out of 100,000 have a TBI each year, and most of those injuries are caused by falls and motor vehicle crashes.

Among all age groups, the top three causes of TBI are motor vehicle crashes, falls, and violence.

Nearly half of all TBIs are related to transportation (motor vehicles, bicycles, etc.). One-quarter are caused by falls. And about 17 percent are caused by firearms and other assaults. Firearms cause about 10 percent of TBIs, but they cause 44 percent of TBI-related deaths. Nine out of ten people with a firearm-related TBI die.

Safety Resources 

Brain Injury Association

The BIA home page (www.biausa.org) links to information on brain injury statistics and prevention as well as services for persons who have a brain injury. This site can also help you find the brain injury association in your state. You can call BIA toll-free at 1-800-444-6443.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Check out tips for preventing falls among seniors (www.cdc.gov/ncipc/duip/spotlite/falls.htm).

National Bicycle Safety Network

The NBSN web site (www.cdc.gov/ncipc/bike/) has information about preventing head injuries through bicycle helmet use.

National Program for Playground Safety

On the NPPS web site (www.uni.edu/playground), you'll find safety measures that can reduce the risk of falls on the playground that may result in TBI. You can also call this program at 1-800-554-PLAY (7529).