War puts focus on brain trauma

Traumatic brain injuries that Americans have suffered in Afghanistan and Iraq are bringing attention to more than 100,000 Washington residents coping with debilitating head injuries from accidents and assaults here at home.

The Legislature this year approved its first big dose of state funding for programs and services for such patients — about 10 times what it usually spends.

Stories of wounded service members and others in the war zone have resonated with state leaders and raised the profile of an injury that often goes unnoticed for lack of physical symptoms.

"It certainly gives an extra oomph to this effort," said Gene van den Bosch, executive director of the Brain Injury Association of Washington. "It raises awareness. Many people in a very nonpartisan way are saying this is simply something we've got to address."

The lasting effects of concussions suffered in sports also have encouraged research, said Dr. Kathy Bell, medical director for the Brain Injury Rehabilitation Program at the University of Washington.

Little spent

Until this year, however, the state spent only about $200,000 a year — half from a federal grant — on services and programs for TBI survivors. That included production of a documentary, "Living with a Traumatic Brain Injury"; resource information on the Web and in print; and some training for first responders, caregivers and state workers.

State Rep. Dennis Flannigan, D-Tacoma, said he realized more needed to be done and that survivors were slipping through the cracks. His legislation, House Bill 2055, imposed a $2 fee on all traffic tickets, estimated to bring in $1.9 million a year for TBI programs and services.

The new law comes at a "tipping point" where Flannigan said he expects the number of TBI cases to grow as the public learns more.

"I think we're going to have an explosion of need," he said.

Almost 1.5 million people suffer a traumatic brain injury each year in the United States, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of those, an estimated 50,000 die and 235,000 require hospitalization.