4 Situations With A High Risk Of Traumatic Brain Injury
Brian O Sutter
Personal Injury
One of the most complex and often devastating injuries for an individual or family to go through is a traumatic injury or TBI. This is because, unlike a broken bone, or other types of muscle or organ damage, TBI has a huge range of different symptoms.The brain is the literal nerve center of the entire human body, controlling our ability to issue orders to our limbs, speak, remember, and even experience emotion. This means that, depending on the part of the brain TBI occurs in, any number of different negative effects can take hold, often for the remainder of the lifetime. This is why TBI should always be taken seriously, and if you find yourself in any of these four situations, consider getting a medical evaluation for TBI.
Sporting Injuries
Some sports, like football, require participants to wear helmets. But there are plenty of others, like soccer, basketball, and baseball, where a helmet is not mandatory, even though there’s a chance of high-speed impact, either from another player or the ball itself.
Any obvious injury to the head should always be examined, but even if no direct contact occurs, if you experience or see someone else experience a rapid movement of the head, this can cause the brain to impact against the skull. Be especially cautious with high impact sports like skateboarding, snowboarding, football and others.
Falling
This is another very common way for head injuries to occur, although certain activities raise the risk. Falling on the job, for example, is an occupational hazard in construction-related activities, such as roofing, or steel/ironwork. But it can happen anywhere.
A fall down the stairs or even a fall to the floor for children or the elderly can sometimes lead to TBI depending on the point of impact. Once again, if you see any fall that leads to the head making contact with something, consider getting a doctor to evaluate for TBI.
Violence
Unfortunately, TBI in acts of violence is very likely because the head is a frequent target in fights, assaults, and crimes. Because the head is the nerve center of operations, damaging the head can stop a fight, weaken, or even neutralize an opponent or victim of crime. This is one of the reasons why blunt force trauma to the head is such a common injury in acts of violence.
If you see anyone get struck in the head during an act of violence, it’s always best to play it safe and get a medical examination for TBI at worst, or a concussion at best.
Car Accidents
Car accidents are, sadly, one of the most frequent causes of TBI. Direct impact with a part of a car during a collision can cause it, but even “whiplash,” the act of a head rapidly whipped forward then backward due to the sudden deceleration of a car on impact, can cause TBI.
In any of these situations, if you or someone you know has suffered TBI as a result of someone else’s negligence, get legal help. Talk to an experienced TBI attorney so that the special considerations you now have are properly addressed in court.