Brain Injury

When you injure your brain, you injure the most important part of the body.

Your brain controls your ability to think, talk, move, and breathe. In addition to being responsible for your senses, emotions, memory, and personality, your brain allows every part of your body to function - even when you're sleeping.

Brain injuries can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time.

Persons with brain injury can be infants, children, youth, young and middle-aged adults – it can happen to anyone at anytime.  There is no way to prepare for a brain injury; it is by definition a life altering event.

Brain Injury can affect your ability to:

• Think and solve problems
• Move your body and speak
• Control your behavior, emotions, and reactions

What Causes Head Injuries? 

• Falls
• Bike accidents 
• Car crashes
• Sport injuries
• Child abuse

What Should I Do if My Child Has a Serious Head Injury?

Call 911 if your child has a head injury and they:

• Lose consciousness (pass out)
• Can’t respond to you
• Have changes in vision
• Have a serious wound or one that bleeds a lot
• Have blood or clear fluid coming from their nose or ear
• Have changes in behavior, such as agitation, confusion, or being very sleepy
• Dizzy or stumbling
• Have a seizure
• Vomit more than twice or vomit hours after the injury
• Have weakness or numbness/tingling in both arms or legs 
• Have neck pain or tenderness

What Can Help Prevent Head Injuries?

Not all head injuries can be prevented. But it’s always wise to:

• Make sure kids wear a helmet when skiing, snowboarding, biking, riding a scooter, skateboarding, or rollerblading. A head injury can still happen, but the helmet can protect them from a skull fracture and serious brain injury.
• Have kids use any safety equipment specific to their sport.
• Have kids use the proper car seat, booster seat, and/or seatbelts every time they're in a car.
• Childproof your home.
• Use playgrounds that have soft ground surfaces like mulch (not dirt or concrete).
• Talk to coaches to make sure that all teams your kids play on have rules to reduce the risk of head injuries and concussions, such as limits on tackling (football) or heading the ball (soccer). Also make sure that the coach will take your child out of play if a head injury happens.
• Talk to your kids about never hiding a head injury. They should stop the sport or activity that caused the head injury and go to a parent, coach, or teacher right away.