According to the CDC, 248,418 children were treated at ERs for concussions -- also known as mild traumatic brain injuries, or mTBIs -- during 2009. That number was up from 153,375 in 2001.
By John Cooper, Virginia Brain Injury Victim’s Attorney
As a parent of high school and middle school athletes and a personal injury attorney in Virginia (VA) who has represented numerous clients who have had their lives shattered by head traumas, I was equally encouraged and concerned when I read that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had discovered a 60 percent increase of emergency room visits for concussions in children between 2001 and 2009.
According to the CDC, 248,418 children were treated at ERs for concussions — also known as mild traumatic brain injuries, or mTBIs — during 2009. That number was up from 153,375 in 2001. A majority of the concussions were caused by bicycle accidents, though football injuries constituted the main cause for teen boys and soccer was a primary concussion cause for teen girls.
It is good to see so many parents and coaches no longer treating head injuries as just a child or teenager getting his or her bell rung. As my law firm colleagues and I have stressed repeatedly, even a seemingly minor blow to the head can have negative, lifelong effects on memory, concentration, emotional control and overall health. Immediate, effective and follow-up care are essential to helping any person of any age recover from a concussion.
I do remain concerned, though, because of the shockingly large numbers of youngsters — CDC considers the ages from birth to 19 years childhood and adolescence — who sustain mTBIs each year. Worse, an athletic brain injury expert interviewed by the New York Times told the newspaper that as few as 1 in 7 concussions in children who play high-impact sports such as football and hockey ever get diagnosed and treated.
But, again, the growing recognition of the potential for and seriousness of mTBIs in children is a good thing. Concerted efforts are being made to improve helmets for everything from bicycling and skiing to football, and Virginia, North Carolina (NC) and 30 other states have enacted laws and regulations requiring education on athletes and concussions, as well as keeping kids out of competition until they are medically cleared.
A good place for parents, coaches and student athletes themselves to start learning about how to prevent and treat concussions is by viewing this free online video seminar from the CDC: Heads Up: Concussions in Youth Sports.
EJL
About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton is a law firm whose attorneys focus on injury and accident law and have experience handling traumatic brain injury and general head injury cases. Check out our case results to see for yourself. Our primary office is in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA). Our attorneys achieved the largest verdict in Virginia’s history for a brain-damaged client in 2000. The initial award of $46 million rose to $60 million with interest when an appeal was settled confidentially. Rick Shapiro and James Lewis were included in the 2011 issue of Best Lawyers in America. They, along with fellow attorney John M. Cooper, were also named 2011 Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law, an honor which fewer than 5 percent of outstanding lawyers receive. Our injury lawyers also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube. Further, our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard blogs as pro bono public information services. While not every brain injury case meets our criteria, if you or a loved one is thinking about taking legal action against a possibly at-fault person or company that caused your injury, call our office at (800) 752-0042 for a free consultation. If you cannot get through due to high call volume, be sure to leave a voicemail. We will return your call.
