As you may already know, The Sarah Jane Brain Foundation has quickly become one of the leading organizations dealing with Pediatric Acquired Brain Injury (PABI) throughout the nation.  The foundation is named after 3-year-old Sarah Jane Donohue who was shaken by her baby nurse when she was only 5 days old breaking 3 ribs, both collarbones and causing a severe brain injury.  Sarah Jane's father, Patrick Donohue, has quickly galvanized the leading professionals in the field of PABI to action.
 
Phase 1 of the Sarah Jane Brain Project began in October 2007 when Patrick launched the Open Source Initiative which was the first time in medical history someone's (Sarah Jane's) medical records and therapy videos were made publicly available using open source principles (they were posted at www.TheBrainProject.org).  He immediately began Phase 2 which was recruiting other families to participate in the Open Source Initiative and attracting the best in the field of PABI to join his National Advisory Board.  Phase 3 involved having the National Advisory Board develop the first-ever National PABI Plan (a comprehensive continuum of care model system).  The first draft of the PABI Plan was finalized in NYC during the PABI Conference of the National Advisory Board last month and is posted on the website.  The Board is seeking public comments through the end of next week from stakeholders in the field of PABI from around the world (I encourage you to read it and post your comments/suggestions).  Phase 4 will be Congress passing the PABI Act which will fund and fulfill the PABI Plan (Patrick's goal is to have this completed by Sarah Jane's 4th birthday in June).
 
Part of Phase 3 has been establishing a Legal Committee of the National Advisory Board by recruiting some of the best legal, regulatory and financial professionals to examine and address the many complex legal issues facing the millions of children and families dealing with PABI (criminal law, family law, personal injury/tort law, healthcare insurance/Medicaid issues, medical and bioethics law, estate planning, special education law as well as intellectual property law).  Patrick asked me to join the National Advisory Board in December and I readily accepted.  I particpated in the PABI Conference last month where more than 50 of the country's leading PABI experts gathered to draft the PABI Plan - there has never been a concentration of such expertise assembled before.
 
A significant part of the PABI Plan will be establishing a National Pediatric Brain Injury Law Clinic which will assist the children and families with their legal issues where government support services currently are lacking.  Part of the the law clinic's role will be establishing a national network of talented and committed legal professionals who understand the PABI community.

I read an article recently which stated that the American College of Emergency Physicians and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have changed the guidelines used in diagnosing mild traumatic brain injuries. I think the revised guidelines are great, and  will only help to increase the early diagnosis of, and therefore treatment of,  the more than one million mild traumatic brain injuries suffered each year.

The actual number of brain injuries suffered each year is actually unknown, since many patients who have an injury never get medical care. The majority of these injuries are classified as mild, meaning the patient is alert, oriented and functional when they are assessed in the emergency department. The hardest part for emergency room staff is identifying which patients with a head injury have an acute traumatic injury and which patients are able to be sent home.

The prevention team of the Brain Injury Association of New Jersey is currently in the process of developing a new website for parents of new and young adult drivers. The website,  NJTeenDriver.com is being sponsored by the Division of Highway Traffic Safety and will be going live within the next 2-3 months.

As the site continues to develop the BIANJ is continually updating all of the prevention sites including their most recent website www.UGotBrains.com, which has been developed by and for new and young adult drivers. As an update to the UGotBrains site new information about the graduated driver's license (GDL) has been added that drivers may not be aware exists nor aware of the consequences if not followed.

The Sarah Jane Brain Foundation has recently submitted a letter to the newly installed President of the United States urging President Obama to address one of the most critical issues facing the new Administration: catastrophic health care reform. The letter urges President Obama to increase awareness for pediatric acquired brain injury (PABI), and more importantly, to pass the PABI Act of 2009.

This Act would be the first National Pediatric Acquired Brain Injury Plan, which outlines the current national health care crisis dealing with PABI along with its problems and proposed solutions. You can view the plan

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The National Advisory Board of the Sarah Jane Brain Foundation is planning a very large birthday party for Sarah Jane on June 5, 2009, to celebrate the passing of the PABI Act and has asked President Obama to sign this historic piece of legislation at her party. I will continue to keep you posted on the status of the Act.

For the fourth year in a row, the suicide rate in the United States Army has risen. The Army released it's 2008 suicide rates earlier this month and this year's rate is the highest in US Army history (since the Army began tracking suicide rates in 1980). The rate of suicides in service men and women rose to 20.2 suicides per 100,000 soldiers.

Repeat deployments, leading to a soldiers inability to deal with traumatic events, are being named as one of the biggest factors in the increased suicide rate. Anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder usually follow an average of 12% of soldiers after they return home from service. However, the rate of solders who suffer from these symptoms jump to over 27% if they have been deployed three times.

The Army has launched an initiative with the National Institute of Mental Health and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to address the rise in suicide rates and to assist in identifying better suicide prevention measures. You can read more on the 2008 Army suicide reports, and what the government plans to do to help online here.